Origins of Justice
by chloemcg
Summary: Apollo Justice was left orphaned as a very young child but little was he to realize that this was just the beginning of how big he life was to change for better or for worse. How did Apollo wind up to become an ace attorney? How did he become Apollo Justice?
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer: I would never own the characters of Phoenix Wright since they belong to Capcom, I may have some original characters as the chapters go on but any characters that don't belong to me are made from Capcom and their respective owners.**

**This is my take on Apollo's life as he grows up, I hope you like it and it meets up to canon standards.**

**Origins of Justice.**

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Wailing...Very high pitched wailing...

That is the noise what has been filling the evening air and shattering its silence in an almost ominous echo as it had been carried through the wind.

The sky was a very dark shade of indigo with stars dotting the nighttime skies and twinkled in their place like diamonds settled upon a beautiful silk material. The buildings were silhouetted against the night yet the windows were lit with a surprisingly bright light that had managed to pierce the almost pitch blackness of the earth below but there was still that shrill cry that cut through the quiet twilight atmosphere like a blade stabbing butter with a temperature that matched the room it was in.

There was a grim air being carried with the wind as a tall, darkened gap between two buildings that looked so grim came into view. It was clear that no prying eyes would peer in there since the alley was shady a damp to an extent of there appearing to be no life whatsoever concealed in the pitch blackness. This proved the lack of life living in this very alley but those cries appeared to have been originating from that same shady place.

The cries were very distinctive and very loud, like a child's crying. A very small child.

Little did anyone know that the gap in between shops was not entirely uninhabited. Within the shadows the alley concealed a woman who currently had her back against the wall as she hid something beneath her constellation robes that stood.

Hidden in the dark blue material was a very small toddler who had been wrapped in a bright blue flannel towel with his diminutive hands flailing about, wanting so much to latch on to something, anything. Those loud cries pierced the air yet the wind and his mother were the only things listening and the former even tried to drown out the infants existence.

Brown tufts covered the childs head and the front of his hair stuck up from the top like spikes. His eyes were screwed shut and his mouth was stretched open as very loud, gaspy wails burst from deep within his relatively new pair of lungs and his bright pink skin was quite pale and almost blue from the harsh sting of the cold the poor thing had been exposed to.

This sight would have been heartbreaking for anyone with a heart.

It was then that the woman, gone by the name of Thalassa Gramarye, had proceeded to carry on with her almost treturious journey yet the young child she tried so hard to hide didn't cease his fits of wails and cries.

She didn't want to do this. You could even say that it was the very last thing she wanted to do!

She didn't really have a choice in the matter, however.

Thalassa was a circus weaver of reality -a magician- who came from a long line of magicians and masters of illusions, the one who succeeded completely in changing the world being her father, Magnifi Gramarye.

She had a fine reputation for using her angelic voice to make others in the crowd swoon as they stared in sheer awe at how beautiful she was. This technique was who attracted her to a young guest circus performer who was about the same age she was and they very soon started dating. This circus performer was a trapeze artist who was kind of modest of himself but he had a good set of lungs on him since always before a show, if he was nervous, he was constantly yell to himself that he was fine.

That was one of the charming things about him.

He had a heart of gold and was always willing to protect Thalassa from anyone who actually disliked her beautiful singing. He was so kind and gentle so it was no surprise that he was filled with glee to hear that Thalassa was pregnant with his son.

They wanted to run away together so they could elope, being so young and knowing a lot of people would disapprove, and that's what they did.

Whence they became fugitives, they even performed on their own for awhile.

Thalassa started to grow sick of her father's pushing and annoying hints of trying to get her to break up with her lover, that and Magnifi was pushing her quite roughly and because she couldn't take the pressure, she ran away. It was clear that her father didn't approve of his son-in-law being a mere circus performer and despised him for defying him, why he even let him in the Gramarye troupe in the first place she didn't even know...

Thalassa and the artist she loved were so happy with their little blessing whence he was finally born. The child was given the name Apollo, in honour of his father's stoic personality since the boy's father was the light in her life. That and they both had a keen interest for Greek mythology.

It was clear that Apollo had very big pipes as he would cry for hours on end when he was first brought home and at first, things were like a dream. They had only a year with little Apollo before the accident came involving Thalassa's love occurred.

He had been doing a trapeze act to ready the crowd for the big act but had been shot while he was swinging from one swing to another with such extraordinary flexibility. He had suffered a fatal bullet to the heart that made an instant kill and after that, shocking everyone.

After that, Thalassa had no choice but to begrudgingly return since she couldn't survive in the streets with a very little son to look after. She was even hopeful that they would assist her provide for the baby, however her father was furious and was adamant that she was far too young to be a parent and that they didn't need a mutt in their pure bred group of Gramarye lineage.

And here she was, trying to locate the nearest orphanage so she could entrust her one-year-old with them.

Apollo was old enough to barely walk on his own but he could very hardly talk yet even though he tried to form words. He was too little to even utter a single word but his determination was clearly a very admirable trait but she didn't even acknowledge that right now as she was too preoccupied.

The one year old she clutched tight to her writhed and squirmed in panic as the cries bursting from his lungs rang even louder than church bells as his delicate arms waved about aimlessly in the air more frantically as if bewildered about the sudden movement that had suddenly taken place. Apollo could hear his mother's voice even though he was securely wrapped in a towel to keep himself dry from the soaking wet moisture surrounding them in the dark alleyway and he was hidden underneath her robes.

Even though she had finally answered those cries, there was a feeling of dread wafting around the darkened room that would surely frighten even the youngest of young children.

"There now, little Apollo." The worried mother soothed in her sweet voice even though her child was hidden beneath her dark navy blue robing as she stealthily snuck her way through the town unspotted by concealing her presence expertly. Her bright brown eyes were seen through the enveloping darkness engulfing the earth below the night sky as she safely sauntered passed any curious passerbys even though she kept little Apollo's frightened cries muffled beneath her cloak.

The cries and shrieks erupting from the tiny being didn't subside but there was a sense of self fear the bundle felt for his own life, not that he even knew what was happening or what was going to happen. Fear closed in and swallowed the helpless child in a pool of fright of what had happened for the past while.

Apollo was confused, cold and frightened.

What was his mother doing?

Why was she looking so frightened?

These questions pecked at his curious, young mind like a woodpecker to some bark of wood. Even though he was too young to grasp the concept of life or even such sadness but he could concept fear very well. It was the very first thing he could grasp, actually.

Apollo placed his chubby hands over his eyes to darken his world and make his own fright disappear just like his mother's lullabies would chase all his fears away after a bad dream but it was futile. He was hopelessly frightened and he had not the slightest idea of how nor why this was so.

Thalassa shared sentiments with her little son as her heart broke for him. The judicial system was just out of control and it went so far that so many false charges were being committed, her husband and her son seemed to show a slight interest in the world of law anyway.

It wasn't her fault that she had to give up her son! If she were to have any more children in the future then she would be sure that he or she would never be alone or have to go through the hardships of losing their parents.

Eventually, however, beneath a small lit lantern hanging by a door beneath a front doorstep, Thalassa finally came across a relatively small building that had the words written upon a gold plaque towards the right of the wooden door "Rock hard Orphanage".

Tears welled up in her eyes as she knew it was time to say goodbye to Apollo. The child was still crying his lungs out, the perfect example of how loud he was going to be when he came of age, as he was finally brought out into view even though he shivered from the cold as he looked up at his mother with big eyes filled with tears.

Why was his mother crying too? Adults weren't supposed to cry, were they? He frowned as his cries finally dulled to a more quiet, non existent volume and blinked his red, puffy eyes in confusion. He couldn't help but find the darkness of the night sort of intriguing as he finally allowed his surroundings to soak in.

This appeared to be a small apartment even though the dull sounds of cars blaring in the distance caught his ears in false alarm as his brows raised up in worry and fear and he subconsciously nestled close to his mother, feeling her warmth soak into the blankets he had been bundled up in. He smiled a little in contentment as he felt safe around her and never wanted to be separated from her.

Gurgling softly, Apollo nuzzled his mother affectionately.

But little did he realise was that he was about to learn a hard lesson: Anything bad can happen at any time.

After being allowed to bask in the warmth and comfort his mother provided, Apollo was confused as his mother began to slowly and deftly move towards the top step the lantern shined a light down upon and he was slowly placed down upon it and feeling the hard contact made him shift his position slightly. He could only look up and stare in confusion as his lips pulled into a small frown.

As she began to walk away, Apollo panicked. Where was she going, was she leaving him here? He couldn't let her leave him alone, it was scary to be alone! He tried to form the words to beg her to stay with him but whatever came out was babbled nonsense. The tone behind his jumbled up attempt at talking was filled with worry and increasing despair as she began to walk off into the night but as he began to cry once more, she reluctantly turned around and headed back towards him.

It was clear she tried to not show emotion but Apollo seemed to have noticed. She frowned softly as she slowly knelt down in front of him and they exchanged a saddened stare for a short while until the realisation of what she was doing finally dawned on Thalassa as she swiftly picked up the small bundle and held him close to her chest with tears streaming from her eyes and staining her cheeks as they left very wet streaks in their wake.

She didn't wish to give up her child but she had no choice. He would be constantly neglected by the rest of his family and they would probably pretend he never existed. He didn't deserve a life like that.

When she finally plucked up the courage to break off the hug, she placed Apollo back down on the doorstep and began stroking the small tufts of hair on his head including the two horns of hair standing on the top of his head. She felt the guilt in her soul coil and twist tighter and tighter as more tears began to well up in her eyes.

She couldn't stand the guilt.

Without really realising it, Thalassa began to hum a melodic tune that sounded very soothing in a way. Her voice was very much like the purest form of glass and it was as sweet as a river with no blockages or debris as it flowed freely and her eyes were as crystal clear as freshly polished metal as she began to sing the sweetest form of music one could utter.

Little Apollo began to grow tired as his big eyes felt like weights. This lullaby was so beautiful and soft that it made all the fears he had melt away like it always had but he felt a significance to this particular song, like it was meant to be held on to for the rest of his days since it was so important.

Thalassa continued to sing as quietly as she could as she watched her son slowly but surely fall asleep on the door step as he slipped off into a blissful slumber. His snores were very gentle as he drifted off at the sound of her sweet humming yet his very last vision of her was blurred as he finally gave into the sleep he yearned for all of a sudden.

His mother would be there when he awoke...wouldn't she?

Guilt stabbed the woman in her heart as she tried her hardest not to break down into tears there and then. She hesitantly stood up, stroking the small twin horns of hair on Apollo's small head as she did so, and raised one of her wrists. He needed something to be reminded that he'll forevermore be loved by her no matter where she was!

Her eyes rested upon one of her bracelets, twinkling like a star in the lanterns soft light, and she lifted her hand off her son's head and proceeded to slip it off her hand. Her bracelets were a gift from her late partner and apparently they were bought from a small market of witchcraft in northern Ireland and they were treasured.

It dawned on Thalassa that if she should have a part of her lover's memory then so should their son.

She slickly removed the bracelet from her wrist and very gently placed it in Apollo's chest which he subconsciously reacted by raising his hands to it and clutching it close to his heart like it was his lifeline.

Slowly stepping forwards, The magician allowed the tears to cascade freely down her face as she extended her slim arm towards the door but she hesitated on knocking. She didn't want to give up little Apollo but she had no choice. Deciding that this was the best thing she could do, she narrowed her eyes in determination and curled up her fist and knocked on the door so someone inside the building could hear her but not her son who would awake if she were to knock to loudly.

When this task was done, she hastily ran away yet her sobs were wracking her body as she took off into the night. Even though she knocked as quietly as possible, Apollo's eyes opened very slightly as he vaguely saw his beloved mother take off and leaving him alone.

Little did Apollo know was that this was just the beginning of how massive he was going to be.

This was the beginning of Apollo Justice.

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**A/N: Tada! This is my very first chapter on what I think happened to Apollo when he was abandoned. I hope this was good enough to make you happy for now and I shall continue on making chapters on Apollo's childhood for you. I hope that this was alright and you all like it.**

**Poor Apollo, he's now all alone in the world and he's now an orphan. Let's see how he probably became who he is in current games, shall we?**

**I can't wait to write more!**

**Edit: Alright, I updated this chapter. I also made a prequel to this called "Confrontation" which I hope you can read eventually. I hope that this chapter is better then what it was and I hope that you know that I done some studying on the actual Ace attorney franchise. **

**-Chloemcg**


	2. The lowly omega

**Disclaimer: I would never own the characters of Phoenix Wright since they belong to Capcom, I may have some original characters as the chapters go on but any characters that don't belong to me are made from Capcom and their respective owners.**

**Origins of Justice.**

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"My name is Apollo Justice and I'm fine!" A young 7 year old Apollo yelled at the top of his lungs as he clenched his fists and furrowed his brows determinedly "My name is Apollo Justice and I'm fine!" He raised his voice even louder "My name is-"

"Apollo stop that racket!" A very loud voice boomed on the other side of the door before the authoritative figure reared her ugly, fat face. She was a woman seeming to be in her late forties (although Apollo thought she was way older) and she had loose folds of skin surrounding her neck and cheeks as her lip stick covered crimson lips stretched into an outraged frown that made it so she bore her crookedly place teeth as she quaked in fury.

She threw the door open as she scowled at the young boy who just rolled his eyes in response as he proceeded to explain to her why he was yelling for the umpteenth time for the passed 5 years and he sighed "Its not a "racket" mrs. Blunt, its my chords of steel," He closed his eyes and pointed one finger up in 'a matter of fact' sort of way "I find its a must to shout before starting the day."

He did have a name for his yelling every daybreak, it was something he took quite a bit of pride in producing and even fine tuning his loud vocals. He had named it his Chords of steel.

Ever since Apollo was little, he had favored his lungs and never once did he hesitate in using them to yell an almighty howl that would normally make the quietness of the household come crashing down. He had loved to use his lungs in plenty of occasions but there was something else he had treasured highly more than anything: His bracelet.

He had been left with it the night he had been orphaned although he couldn't recall a thing from that night as he was too young at the time. He had been told by others that it looked sort of insignificant and even somewhat dinky-looking but he didn't exactly care how old and antique it looked, it was something given to him by his true family and he was not going to dare question its significance since he treasured it always.

He frowned whence the matriarch of the orphanage, Mrs. Blunt, stamped towards him with her face red from anger. Apollo thought that this woman was so large and grotesque that he usually imagined her to be a large elephant that stomped around the savannas of Africa but he did think she was pretty mean, in fact many other children in the orphanage sort of feared her although they kept quiet about it.

Mrs. Blunt put a harsh hand atop of Apollo's head and yanked him by the hair to force him to face her, making him grit his teeth from the pain "See here, you pointy-headed freak! I don't care for you're high vocals and I am sick and tired of waking up every morning to you're pathetic crowing!" She glared daggers at him "You be quiet or else I will be forced to make you be quiet, understand?"

Apollo didn't back down but he couldn't deny the intensity of that threat. He didn't know what she was going to do but the witty remark came out before he could even suppress it "Can you quit insulting my hair, mrs. Blunt, everyone does the whole cliché thing of making fun of my horns and its kind of pathetic."

She squeezed her grip tightly on Apollo's horns of hair, making him cry out in pain as he squeezed his eyes shut and involuntarily raised his hand up to expose his wrist and bracelet. He could feel her harsh grasp on his hair yank tightly on his head as he tried very hard not to cry out so loud that everyone in the city could hear his cries of pain. His face bunched up together and his eyes screwed shut as he felt a sudden burn to his wrist in the heat of the moment.

When the pain suddenly stopped, making him assume she finally released him, Apollo reluctantly opened his eyes and looked at the matriarch who clutched an all too familiar accessory tightly in her hand. He froze when he saw this item in Mrs. Blunt's grasp and he could have sworn that the world around him came to a sudden halt as his eyes very slowly fell upon his wrist to reassure himself that the item she held wasn't what he thought it was, that this thing was still where it would be normally, but he was overcome with horror upon seeing his wrist bare and bracelet-less as his eyes flashed from smug confidence to terror and plea.

"M-My bracelet...!" Apollo cried out as he tried to reclaim his bracelet but only for it to be held out to reach as Mrs. Blunt held it up high "Please give it back, I'll be quiet! I'll stop yelling until my lungs burst!" His eyes swelled with tears "But please gimme my bracelet back."

However Mrs. Blunt's eyes held no sympathy towards the desperate pleas of the young boy as she turned her back on Apollo, not even looking at him nor responding to his constant shameless begging as he stared after her as he watched her carry his beloved bracelet away with her. "You will not be getting this darned thing back for awhile, you big-mouthed buffoon, I will be keeping this until you learn you're place in this world."

Apollo gritted his teeth and narrowed his eyes after her. His scowl was so filled with anger that he could have burned a hole right into the back of her head as he tried not to yell at her and complain of how awful this place was, he hated being here. He felt so alone since he didn't have any friends and whenever couples came at the weekends to adopt one of them, he was always treated like he didn't even exist. Nobody even paid attention to him as he usually sat alone in a corner, reflecting on how his life had been up to that point.

What was he, at the bottom of the food chain?

As Mrs. Blunt disappeared around a corner into the corridor Apollo turned on his feet and folded his arms across his chest in a sulk, his face tight and his eyes narrowed into slits. Even the two horns atop his head had withered a little from how upset he was as he mumbled to himself "_Hmph, I should report you for child abuse..._" This was both a thing going through his mind and something he could not help but utter as he despised that woman more and more as everyday passed.

It wasn't his fault he loved to raise his voice!

The Orphanage uniform wasn't incredibly cheerful either. Every child was required to wear these itchy uniforms that looked like prison outfits except black and dreary as he had been forced into wearing that despicable outfit and he could always imagine it as he just longed to spread wings and soar through the clouds as if to break away from this reality. It would be pretty awesome to get away from the orphanage and live a free life out there.

He scratched at his bare wrist, finding it acutely uncomfortable to not be wearing it as his wrist felt naked without it.

Then he decided to make himself feel a little better by muttering to himself, placing a lonely hand to his chest while he tried to suck up the tears threatening to leak from his eyes "...My name is Apollo Justice and..." He sighed heavily "...I AM fine."

Apollo didn't have a family but he did like the sound of Justice and made it his last name. He had heard of the word in the front page title which shown Phoenix Wright, ace attorney lawyer, receiving an award for clearing a famous celebrities name and clearing them of false accusations of murder and the title had written in big bold writing "**Phoenix Wright pursues justice once again**" and after researching the word thoroughly, he not only chose that as his honorary last name but he also chose his future career: being a lawyer.

He wanted to be just like Phoenix Wright when he came of age.

Apollo shook his head and rubbed at his wrist as he decided to try and forget about it; he was bound to get it back eventually. He just needed to stay positive and look on the bright side...Whenever a bright side shown itself to him, that is.

Thinking back to his hair, Apollo noticed that his horns were still limp and this made his brows lower in annoyance. He hated it when this happened since it was always when he was upset or something that his horns withered just like this. He used a finger to make his horns stand back up and smiled a little in satisfaction when he got them standing back up.

"Well at least I still have my hair." He grinned. That was a positive!

It was then he heard a very distinctive bell sound and this made his smile widened even further. He knew what this could mean: breakfast.

Eating was all or nothing here, if you have food then it keeps you sustained for the day but if you don't then you go hungry. Apollo nearly always gone hungry since everyone made easy grabs of the food on offer while he was considered the pipsqueak of the pack.

He dusted himself off and removed all facial traces of how furious he was before and made a running jog out the door. He sharply turned a corner to go down the stairs he found out that a swarm of children crammed down the stairway, blocking the others from getting to the kitchen even though everyone squirmed to try and get through the chaos building up amongst the horde of children.

The Rock hard orphanage had a small problem since they acted like a pack of wolves to see who would be the alpha of the pack: This would be the strongest of all of them, a bully named Wocky who was set to be adopted by the Kitaki family; they were hardcore gangsters so it wasn't all that surprising, but Apollo was the lowest form of omega.

Why was Apollo the bottom of the hierarchy? This was very likely what Mrs. Blunts was saying when he needed to accept his place on the bottom of the food chain.

Apollo once again scrunched his face tight in anger as his positive had been outweighed by this mean reminder. He stood at the very back of the hungry crowd with his arms folded across his chest and his brows were narrowed against his eyes to make his glare all the more intent.

"_Why do I need to be the one on the bottom of the food chain?" _He thought grumpily with a roll of his eyes "_And why is my hair so strange? It's not that bad!" _

"Make way, comin' through!" Wocky yelled out while pushing and shoving his way to the front of the crowd and walking towards the huge buffet table that rested in the kitchen and one-by-one, the children had their meals and they ate and ate what they could get their hands on. Clearly this was a result of the poor hierarchy setting this place had here where only the favored children ate while the omegas had absolutely nothing but by the time Apollo, after waiting for an hour, was finally permitted to eat but everything on the table was gone.

There were some chicken bones left over but Apollo simply stared sadly at the food he would have loved to have. He sighed heavily in depression as he felt the cruel reminder of his life sink in and he couldn't help but feel like the unluckiest boy in the world even though he knew there were others worse off then he was.

He stared at the leftovers for quite some time until yet another bell chimed, signalling that it was time to go and get some fresh air outside.

Apollo groaned as he felt his stomach churn painfully in hunger, making his hand press against his thin stomach as he tried to stifle the noise of his stomach growling. He felt so hungry that he couldn't even think about anything else, he felt like a lowly street urchin since he was so hated by everyone else.

Slowly but surely, Apollo convinced himself that going outside with the others would be best as he glumly lumbered towards the front door where he would be able to go outside. Life wasn't all that bad, though, he went to a neighboring school which is the only place where he felt like people knew he existed. He had a nice teacher as well but unfortunately nobody in the class spoke to him and mostly made fun of his bracelet and hair.

His nice teacher always intervened and told him to stay strong, though, and at was exactly what he was going to do!

As he came out into the bright sunlight, squinting his eyes from the harsh light beaming down from the heavens above, Apollo took a moment to get his eyes to adjust to the surroundings and when he did he looked around very thoughtfully as the possibilities of what outdoor activity to do nibbled at his curious mind.

The Rock hard orphanage was also open to the park across the road so the children could go there at will if they wanted do as long as they had adult supervision. That's what the children of the orphanage did on a regular basis but there were some who decided to cause mischief and go across to the park without an adult and even torment others.

As long as Apollo stayed far from the park, he knew he should be fine. He eventually came across a book of astrophysics laying on the concrete beneath his feet as he stepped out on to the playground and he picked it up and stared at it in deep interest. He may not have cared much for deep space and constellations but he needed something to pique his curiosity so he decided that this was the best option and besides, there was nothing wrong with a little education to do in your spare time.

His lips twitched into a small but genuine smile at the thought of getting some reading done to please his nagging curiosity for learning as he began to walk towards a small bench that sat beneath the shade of a small tree that had yet to grow into a huge magnificent tree.

The young boy had dreams that he would promise himself constantly he would make a reality and he also promised himself that he would make friends someday and he would be noticed...he hoped.

He approached the dank old bench and sat himself down on it, hearing it 'creak' under his weight and that's if he had any. He crossed his legs and sat the acquired book down on his lap as he opened it and began to eagerly dive into the words and his mind devoured each and every sentence as he flicked from one page to the next whenever he had finished reading those pages.

Apollo loved to learn and had some knowledge on history so he could learn quite a bit when it came to becoming a lawyer. He needed to know stuff if time called for it and he also needed to present evidence when he became a full fledged defense attorney and this required knowledge and a lot of it.

However Apollo then caught the sight of Wocky out of the corner of his eye even with the sunlight being as bright as it was that day and as he was sort of far from hearing range, He couldn't hear much of what he was saying but he was partnered with two other boys and he watched as Wocky and two other boys sneaked off towards the gate and proceeded to open it before letting both himself and the other two out without getting noticed. They headed towards the park!

Apollo went frozen with near panic. Why did they just do that? Were they going to the park without an adult like all the other mischievous children who didn't follow the rules?

He looked around for an adult to see if they could handle the problem but discovered very quickly that there were no responsible adults around. He frowned and face palmed at this since there were seriously no adults around to not take responsibility.

"_This place REALLY needs more adults..." _He thought before he looked down at his lap in deep thought as he began to consider on his next move.

He couldn't tell an adult since that would be tattle tailing and he would get bullied relentlessly by Wocky for weeks on end and he barely tolerated life here as it is without the constant picking on his hair by the other children. He most definitely couldn't take someone with him since he would be ignored anyway and even if he managed to drag somebody along to the park with him, when they caught wind of what he was doing then he would most likely be tattled on by them and again, it would result on more picking on.

There was one option that he could think of: Follow them.

He knew he could get in trouble for doing this but if he wanted to be a lawyer then now was perfect practice. he needed to sharpen his skills on investigating stuff when duty calls for it and this was definitely suspicious and somewhat shady. This could get him in even bigger trouble than before but he felt a high need to do this.

He finally looked up with a determined glimmer shining within his dark brown irises. He was going to do it, and nobody could tell him otherwise!

Using the shade and shadows reflecting off the fence and building as his cover, Apollo stealthily crept out of the orphanage grounds and opened the gate so he could creep out. Since he was basically ignored by everyone else, he decided that nobody would miss him until he discovered what those bullies were planning as he found himself standing on the curb of the road, waiting for the moment until no cars would come and threaten to run him over. He knew all about road safety although he felt rather reluctant to cross the road alone. However, remembering the task at hand, he took a deep breath and made a mad dash across the road until he was in the park across the road.

The park was a very tranquil place where the sun would reflect off of every piece of lush grass that still had due drops from the recent rainfall. The skies above were warm and yellow with a soft golden glow that would somehow touch the hearts of the inhabitants of this town and the clouds were so soft and fluffy-looking as they gradually floated passed in the skyline and passed everyone by. The place was abundant with trees that gave off a crispy warm vibe to reflect the summer season as children played, dogs played fetch with their owners and laughter filled the air.

But with every shimmer of light, there was a dark cloud.

The sight of Wocky and his accomplices had caught his eyes as they hid among the trees to have their private conversation.

Apollo, desperate not to be seen, hidden safely behind a tree so he could spy on Wocky and the other two boys.

He was a fair distance away from where the conversation was taking place but he could hear them quite well despite the fact that they were speaking in low voices.

He peaked from behind the tree and his eyes widened in horror upon seeing the familiar sparkle of his bracelet twinkling in the sunlight as it rested in Wocky's palm. How did he get that, didn't Mrs. Blunt confiscate it from him earlier this morning?! He gasped and felt anger twist his intestines since he didn't know how to act upon seeing his precious item being held in that bully's filthy hands.

He felt his hands clench in anger as his eyes narrowed. He was trembling with anger at seeing them with his bracelet and he gritted his teeth to stifle the low growl that came from deep within his throat as his back was pressed against the large tree trunk he hid behind.

"Hehehehe," Wocky laughed menacingly "I can't believe I managed to sneak this off of Mrs. Blunt! I wonder how she slipped it off of that horny-headed freak's wrist anyway?"

"Who cares?" One of Wocky's accomplices asked "If we're lucky then it may sell for a very fetching price."

"Yeah!" The other snickered.

Apollo's eyes widened in terror. They were planning on _selling _his precious bracelet?! They weren't going to get away with this and he was going to get that back no matter what it took! His heart thumped wildly within his chest as his quaking evolved into trembling and beads of sweat dribbled down from his forehead so it could dampen his brow from the sheer horror he felt at the idea of his precious item being sold off to make quick money.

He found it increasingly hard to maintain his boiling anger as his brows furrowed over his eyes. Justice tried so hard to not run forward right that second and punch the daylights out of those bullies but he knew better than that. A lawyer pursues the truth but doesn't punch others no matter what their doing. He shouldn't -he COULDN'T- resort to violence!

Apollo watched as Wocky tossed the bracelet and caught it simply like he was flipping a coin as his pudgy digits wrapped around the golden artifact as he smirked "Heh, I doubt that little chicken-haired freak would even miss this pathetic little trinket."

"Hey!" A very familiar young voice called out, catching the trios attention as they faced the direction of where the voice came from. They watched as Apollo stepped out of his hiding place as he put on a face filled with unwavering anger as he shook like a leaf either from anger...or fear "Theres two things that contr-contro..." he couldn't pronounce the word he so desperately wanted to use but he heard lots of people in courts uses it "...controficts what you're saying!"

Wocky and his friends all furrowed their brows mockingly at Apollo "Oh yeah? Whats that, pipsqueak?"

Apollo swallowed hard as he was sweating bullets. He couldn't deny the fact that he was really scared of being beat up by these guys but he couldn't give in to that overwhelming fear that would make him cower if he wasn't careful but he constantly reminded himself who he was and that he was fine, like he always done even when he was tiny; He didn't know why but he just adopted that trait one day and found it really helped in times of need.

He stood his ground and glared strongly yet ignored the huge bullets of sweat running down from his forehead "First of all: I would most _definitely _miss my bracelet so give it back." He clenched his hands into fists and squeezed them as hard as he could as a anger relief "Second..." He eyes narrowed so hard that if looks could kill then they would have burst into flames right there and then "QUIT MAKING FUN OF MY HAIR!"

However, Wocky nor the other two boys even broke a sweat even if Apollo was getting red in the face in anger. He hated being treated like the runt of the pack and was going to prove himself worth more then little notice to those two even if he had to break their cold, dead hands. Apollo was sick and tired of it! He rushed forwards and tried to jump for his bracelet but Wocky held it out of reach, being much older and taller then Apollo was.

Apollo jumped for his precious object with his arms reaching high for it and he stood on his tip toes when he wasn't leaping desperately for his bracelet back. Eventually, his fury was replaced with desperate begging for the second time that morning. His narrowed eyes began to accumulate with chunky tears as he continued to jump for his bracelet even though he knew that unless Wocky held it a bit lower or gave it back, it would be a useless effort.

"P-please, give me back my bracelet! This isn't funny!" Apollo cried as tears began to stream down his face, his anger fading as he finally dropped to his knees and buried his face in his hands so he could sob and hide his shame.

He felt so embarrassed that he was breaking down in front of bullies but he just wasn't strong enough to stand up to them alone, he needed help otherwise he would be ruined for life. He felt his heart crack into two separate pieces upon realizing that he probably was too cowardly to even be as tough as his hero, Phoenix Wright. Even though he hid behind a mask of confidence and bravery, on the inside he was just a scared little boy who needed all the help he could get.

The bullies seemed amused by the act of shameful crying but it was then a stern grunt of authority caught their ears and they looked over their shoulders to see who it was.

"Thats enough!" The voice said very firmly, like a parental figure yet it sounded definitely male. That voice sounded pure and kind-hearted even though it was normally loud and even more authoritative. The shadow of this person loomed over the three bullies who shrank back at seeing an adult at the scene and their black onesies wrinkled at the stomach area as they doubled forwards and backed away slowly, reluctantly handing this man the bracelet.

When the bullies retreated back to the orphanage, the man walked towards Apollo who continued to sob pathetically and placed a kind hand on his shoulder as he asked with the softest voice possible "Hey, kid, are you okay?"

Apollo wanted to look up and see who it was who had saved his bacon but he was just too ashamed. Maybe he shouldn't even become a lawyer! He couldn't even fend off those bullies or get his bracelet back and if anyone couldn't even do that without crying their eyes out then whats the point of it all? He sobbed heavily but nodded with his face buried within the clasp of his hands. He heard the nice man maintain his kind, compassionate tone as he seemingly held a tissue towards him "Here blow."

Apollo slowly lifted his head and took the tissue being held out to him before blowing quite roughly, the piece of material being buried in tearful snot and dampness, before he finally mustered up the courage to look up and he could have sworn that when he did that the world around him froze in time as his heart dropped into his stomach. His eyes were wide as he looked up at the man who he could easily identify as the not-so-new attorney, Phoenix Wright, who simply smiled down at him.

Upon making the realization that he had made the most embarrassing scene possible in front of his idol, Apollo quickly wiped his eyes and tried to rid himself of all signs that he had been crying his eyes out a few seconds ago. He gasped in shock as he looked up at Phoenix Wright and had to reach his arm out towards him and touch him to see if he was actually dreaming. He was overcome with shock that the spiky-haired man bent down and helped him stand by pulling him up to his feet even though he wobbled a bit before steadying himself as his eyes were huge with awe and wonder.

"Phoenix Wright?" Apollo's question was heavily merged with a heavy gasp as he looked up at the ace attorney "Is that really you?"

Phoenix nodded with a grin as he just stood in front of young Apollo. He was a little surprised when the little boy suddenly jerked his arm to touch his other arm and with a sudden pinch, Apollo yelped and jumped on the spot as the sudden self inflicted pain was a teeny bit uncomfortable. Phoenix got down on his knees so he could meet Apollo at eye level and he asked "What was that about?"

Yet the question was ignored.

Apollo could hardly believe his eyes. _The_ Phoenix Wright was standing in front of him! He felt like he was going to faint but he just told himself that he was fine in a low voice over and over again before he finally was convinced that it was the ace attorney who was standing in front of him. Seriously, you'd think Phoenix was like some sort of god the way his young fan treats him!

"Oh my gosh, you're Phoenix Wright! I can't believe you're here!" Apollo squeaked before breaking off into a rant.

Phoenix simply watched in amusement. It was hard to believe that the boy was crying a minute or so ago! Clearly he had just helped out a fan which surprised him considering that there weren't many fans of him since they saw him as a person who relies on bluffs and luck to save him although that was partly true, he didn't want to spoil this little boy's dreams so simply went along with being treated like a celebrity. He could get used to this!

Apollo was no stumbling over his own words as he began to rant to himself which began to get a little awkward. Phoenix knew he had to snap the boy out of it before he got a headache from these mixed emotions. He shook his head and smiled "Um, kid?"

This snapped Apollo out of his ranting spree and focused all his attention on his idol "Oh. Yessir?"

Phoenix wanted to tell the boy to call him by his actual name but he didn't have the heart to spoil the kid's fun. He decided to humor the boy as he offered with the kindest grin he could muster "As you're clearly familiar with me and I know little to nothing about you, I kinda would like to know what that was all about if thats okay with you."

Apollo's smile fell. He did kind of own his idol/savior an explanation of why that was happening. He shuffled his feet nervously as he looked down and locked his hands behind his back as if he was ashamed and he began to tell the tale of how this had came to be.

Phoenix had been listening to the story quite intently and didn't once wish to interrupt the child's tale. He could tell by the way he was acting that this was putting a huge emotional strain on his life and that the orphanage wasn't exactly treating him kindly. It took a few minutes of explaining and stumbling over a few words but Apollo finally concluded the tale with when Phoenix had intervened and stopped the bullies from actually selling his bracelet.

The spiky-haired ace attorney felt sympathetic towards the boy. The poor thing needed some moral support and what better moral support to give to you then your idol? He was sort of glad that he took this little walk in the park otherwise he would have not saved his mentality! He chuckled warmly and played with the boy's hair as he suggested "How about I getcha an ice cream cone before I take you back to the orphanage?"

Apollo smiled warmly as he decided to introduce himself "I'm Apollo Justice," but he quirked his brows as he frowned in utter confusion "how did you know I'm from the orphanage?"

Phoenix smirked. This was an almost too easy question to answer! He was very familiar with the Rock hard orphanage and its strange unanimous dress code even though it wasn't all that cheery. He simply pointed at the onesie that Apollo wore and this made him in turn glance down at the black onesie he wore and smiled somewhat sheepishly when he recalled the dress code of the orphanage.

But then something Apollo said had piqued his curiosity as he furrowed his wiry brow in confusion "But wait, aren't you an orphan? How can you have a last name?"

Apollo felt a blush raise in his cheeks. He couldn't help but play with the horns of hair on his head as the memory of why he chose Justice as a last name as his face turned from a shade of pale peach to a bright scarlet within moments as his eyes fell to the grass planted beneath his trainers.

"Well, Mister Wright, I'll be honest in saying that I kinda..." He chuckled sheepishly to match his expression and body shifts "...Took a liking to the word "Justice" in a newspaper I've read about you and I made it my honourary last name."

Apollo couldn't deny but he felt like a fool having to explain it to his idol even though it was nothing he felt a shred of embarrassment beforehand. He could feel all the blood rush to his head to make his face even redder from how sheepish he was growing, his face sweating bullets as they trickled down his face.

Despite his reddened face, however, Apollo smiled a little when Phoenix chuckled lightly upon hearing it "Well, Apollo, the name fits you like a glove." Not even the best ace attorney could deny that the last name Justice fitted the lad quite well in the long run and this gave the man a very good idea on what the kid aspired to be when he got older. He decided not to question it, though, as he offered his hand out for Apollo to take as he proceeded his decent off into the distance.

Phoenix took Apollo's hand and the two went to go get some ice cream from a nearby cart or something even though the money in the formers wallet wasn't a lot to get both of them an ice cream.

After buying an ice cream, Phoenix proceeded to escort the young boy who now wore his bracelet proudly now that it had been returned to its rightful owner. But as they walked Apollo had kept quiet for some reason as he hung his head sadly with his horns drooping just a little from the lack of positive emotion running through his heart and mind. He felt really ashamed that this had all happened to begin with and his hero had to come and save the day for him when he was trying to fight off a type of evil.

He could only look at his own feet tapping against the ground as he took each step slowly and carefully as if he was walking in a less than normal pace people would normally walk. He just had an aura of negativity glowing around him as he was pretty sure his neck would stiffen from how low it was being kept although he didn't exactly care about it. Apollo should have been stronger as he held the left over cone from his creamy treat tightly in his grip even though he was bending forwards sadly.

He was displaying his emotions quite obviously but he didn't seem to realise how sadly he was walking as Phoenix stopped dead in his tracks and knelt down in front of him so he could see why Apollo was so down-hearted all of a sudden. He looked in Apollo's eyes and saw some determination shining in his dark brown orbs although there was also some heartbreak, like his emotions were taken and battered about like someone had been playing tennis with them.

"I'm sorry for not standing up for myself, mister Phoenix, maybe I should give up trying to be a lawyer like you...I'm a joke, aren't I?" Apollo's voice cracked a tiny bit as he gazed down deeper towards the ground and didn't dare look into the man's deep sea blue eyes yet he was seriously sad this happened.

Phoenix narrowed his eyes firmly as he gripped on to Apollo's shoulder. No child should give up on their dreams and he was never going to let a boy with so much potential be dragged down by his emotional scars like this! He frowned as he told Apollo with a soft voice yet it was one so stern that it made Apollo believe that he needed to absorb this no matter what as he finally looked up.

"Look. Even though life can be totally unfair sometimes, that doesn't mean you should let you're fears get the better of you." The spiky-haired man wearing the blue suit stared intently at Apollo's youthful face "You're a great kid, Apollo, and you should ignore what others tell you and follow you're dreams." He narrowed his eyes in determination yet his pupils softened as his frown twisted into a passionate grin "You have to stand tall and stand you're ground. Understand?"

Apollo felt these words hammer into his brain. He stared right into the eyes of his idol with a sadness swimming within his dark brown pools as he frowned with shame. He couldn't help but feel hopeless as the man's words sunk in pretty quickly whilst Apollo listened very intently to what Phoenix was telling him.

Phoenix was right. He couldn't give up on everything he worked for these passed few years of learning the art of being a lawyer, he needed to be strong like his parents would want him to be!

...He didn't even remember his mothers face since he only knew that it was she who gave him that bracelet when he was left abandoned. It did cross his mind to run away and find his real parents but he thought against it for some reason, like he knew it wouldn't be in his weaving fate. Apollo would have loved to have seen his mother so he could have recalled everything about her but the only thing he could remember was her beauty and her sweet, angelic singing voice. He didn't even know anything about his father!

It took some mulling over but Apollo actually managed a heartfelt genuine smile as he felt his original confidence and determination return like rays of sunlight peaking behind some grey clouds.

He nodded as he glared a confident glare and smiled very hugely as he knew that his confidence and faith in the world had been restored thanks to his personal hero: Phoenix Wright!

"Y'know something, mister Phoenix...?" Apollo asked after pausing for a moment "you're right."

The ace attorney smiled upon knowing that his deed was done. He just needed to escort the little tyke back to the orphanage although he knew it would be quite a trek thanks to that little ice cream hunt and it backtracked them a few miles but the both of them knew they could do it as they walked back.

As they walked while conversing, Phoenix had taught Apollo how to properly pronounce "Contradiction", even though he admittedly found Apollo's attempts at saying it pretty cute and he also taught him the proper way to yell "Objection" while pointing an index finger of righteous justice and standing in a sideways stance and with the back straight for effect.

They also had a talk about what they knew so far about being a lawyer and boy, did they have a lot to talk about! Apollo exchanged his knowledge on astrophysics and other topics for future cases while Phoenix exchanged some helpful tips about controlling his "Chords of steel" since everyone at the Wright and co. law offices have similar voice exercising techniques!

It was a very pleasant walk back to the orphanage although Apollo hid himself behind Phoenix's leg as they walked through the gate and got a good look at the playground. Everyone was most likely back inside judging by the empty atmosphere but there was an air of pending doom surrounding the area and this was something nobody could deny as they both walked towards the gloomy-looking apartment.

They both walked up the steps and Phoenix knocked on the door even though he felt sorry for Apollo since he could feel the boy's hands clutching on tightly to his trouser leg as if it was his lifeline and he even got a momentary glimpse of Apollo's eyes and they were filled with sadness and fear. He frowned as he silently nodded to the boy to remind him of what he was told and be brave to which Apollo responded by blinking back the tears welling up in his glassy eyes.

The door was opened after a few painstakingly slow seconds and they walked into the Rock hard Orphanage and were met with a very intense atmosphere as hard glares and silence stared right into their souls and this intimidated them even further.

Phoenix wanted to be the adult and stand his ground yet he really fought the overwhelming urge to bolt out of this creepy place while Apollo continued to use his idol as a shield from all the harsh comments about his hair.

Mrs. Blunts once again marched forwards and met Phoenix with a stone hard glare before snapping her head down towards the seven year old who had taken a small peak before being scared by how furious she looked and buried his face in the porcupine-haired lawyer's trouser leg to hide how afraid he suddenly was.

"Apollo..." She seethed through gritted teeth "...Where the _devil _did you run off to?"

Apollo swallowed hardly but puffed out his chest so he could be brave and he made his face stone hard. He had made sure he pushed any fear back so he could confront the woman as he glared at her with utmost contrast.

"I was following the kid to go with the Kitakis and his friends since they looked shady and I didn't see any adults around so I went to see them in the park and see what they were-" he was cut short by a huge outburst.

"Shut up, you little liar!"

Apollo shrunk back a little but quickly shook it off. He was not going to give in to his own fear of her so easily! He stretched forwards and yelled "I'm NOT lying! They stole my bracelet from you and were planning on making a quick buck!"

Mrs. Blunt turned on her heels towards the bullies who were clearly looking as innocent as possible as she stomped towards them and asked them "Wocky, is this true!?"

Wocky gave her some puppy dog eyes as he smiled sweetly at Mrs. Blunt along with the other two children who just shifted their feet against the floor to make themselves look even more innocent and then Wocky spoke with a false voice "What his deal, yo? He has the gall to go and pin us for the crime when we never even left the playground."

He flashed a huge, fake smile "We'd never steal a penny from you, great madam lady."

It was then Apollo felt it.

He felt a great squeeze on his wrist under his bracelet, making Apollo groan under his breath as he squeezed his eyes shut from the intense discomfort. What was happening? He also could have sworn that moments before he was seeing things in an x-Ray colouring as if a surge of deep pain from within had suddenly taken hold of him.

The boy's pain didn't go unnoticed as Mrs. Blunt walked back towards him yet she seemed more annoyed than concerned about his well being and she asked him with a huge lack of emotion in her pompous voice "What's with you?"

Apollo shook his head once the tight squeezing of his bracelet subsided and blinked a few times to get his eyes to readjust to his surroundings since the strange flash of visionary discolour was kind of strange yet it felt natural to him at the same time. He was well and truly confused by this sudden reaction of his bracelet but decided not to question it as he knew for a fact that these bullies were dirty liars.

Phoenix watched in both concern and amazement at the boy as he subconsciously knew what this meant, nobody he knew could react to a blatant lie like that but he had to make sure as he knelt down and touched Apollo's shoulder "Are you alright?"

Apollo nodded even though he wasn't sure himself.

This never happened before now.

He did continue to try and convince Mrs. Blunt that he was telling the truth, though "But Mrs. Blunt, they really did sneak out of the playground undetected!" he sounded exasperated as he gestured his arms towards the bullies "There weren't any staff members around at the time so I clearly couldn't tell them and besides if I told any of you then I would be bullied even more for being a tattle!" He turned his back on them and glared over his shoulder "And I would very much like to keep what little dignity I have left, thanks..."

Mrs. Blunt's face scrunched up in anger as she marched towards him and held her hand out for Apollo to give her back his bracelet, her eyes narrowed into slits and her breathing very much shallowed from how deep she was seething where she stood. She was clearly fuming with anger as she gritted her teeth sharply and her face was contorting constantly from her uncontrollable surges of anger towards the horn-haired boy.

Apollo continued to glare up at her as he turned around and began the process of removing his bracelet of his own wrist yet Phoenix stopped him when he had his fingers wrapped around the gold artifact. The attorney had his hand pressed against the top of the precious bracelet yet his eyes were fixated on the woman towering them as he frowned in what looked like one of pure contempt, like he wanted to take on this despicable woman himself.

The ace attorney released his hold on Apollo's wrist and slowly climbed to his feet as he glared right into the glaring eyes of the beast known as the matriarch of the orphanage.

"Mrs. Blunts, I know for a certainty that Apollo is telling the truth here. You can't just confiscate the kid's bracelet because of something he didn't do." Phoenix's voice was now low and somewhat steady and chilled yet his expression was anything but.

He reach a hand to the back of his neck and scratched sheepishly "Now, I agree that going somewhere on you're own is a reckless move, but what other choice did he have? I bet it was you're fault this even happened in the first place."

He glared icy daggers at the pompous woman "Now I have the right mind to call social services on you and get the lad taken to a different orphanage but I won't because he has a lot of things to wait for here; I won't take that away from him, but lemme tell you something," His glare turned even icier if possible ":I can assure you that if you were accused of being a mean-spirited woman to a bunch of kids and were taken to court, I would be totally sure that not even the most experienced lawyer could save you. I wouldn't even show up to court if you were my client even though that's a lot coming from me."

Apollo simply watched in awe as his hero stared Mrs. Blunt down, never has anybody stuck up for him like this. It was like a dream come true! He really wanted to smile and shout aloud in glee for this remarkable set of circumstances but he couldn't because he didn't know if even the famous Phoenix Wright could get through to her or not and double in his amount of punishment.

After some moments of painful silence, Mrs. Blunts finally nodded and conceded "Very, well Mr. Wright, the boy can keep his stupid bracelet."

He knew she only said that because a man of the law was here but Apollo didn't really care. He jumped up and down in place since he was overwhelmed with utter joy of what had just happened. He was keeping his bracelet! He could hardly believe it! But he stopped when a very good question was asked:

"How did you come into possession of Apollo's bracelet anyway?" Mrs. Blunt asked Wocky and the other two with a frown and a matching crooked brow yet Wocky kept up the unwavering 'good boy' act as he smiled even more deviously then before.

"Why, lady, you simply dropped it and we were gonna give it back but then we got interested in it and we began asking about whose it was so we could return it to its rightful owner." He smirked but he glared threateningly towards Apollo as if he was going to beat him up the moment they were alone together or even clobber him in his sleep.

Apollo once again felt the squeeze and yelped again as his grip on his bracelet tightened around his wrist and he felt the pain of the uncomfortable surge of power flow through him and his eyes stung oddly. It was as if someone had flashed a camera in his face repeatedly every time that happened!

Phoenix seemed very lost in deep thought. He was smiling as he scratched his chin thoughtfully and his eye wandered up towards the ceiling as he mulled over several things in his mind but then he grinned and he began to make his departure out the door.

Phoenix looked back towards the small group as he told them suddenly "I gotta go now."

What!? What was going on here!

"Wait! am I going to see you again?" Apollo asked in astonishment. Why did his wrist hurt all of a sudden and why did his bracelet squeeze him like that when Wocky blatantly lied about how he came into possession of that bracelet? And why did Phoenix become all shady and ominous all of a sudden?!

These questions raced through his curious young mind but he stared after the man incredulously as Phoenix began to make his descent out of the door with what appeared to be a very shifty look shining within those dark blue orbs as he slowly walked off. But he stopped at the door frame and peaked over his shoulder so he could grin at the young boy mysteriously.

He knew something Apollo didn't and that fact was really unnerving.

Quirking his brows, Phoenix told the boy cryptically "Yes, we will meet again. Just remember what I told you and never give up pursuing that dream of yours."

Apollo nodded his head even though he was beyond flabbergasted. What on earth happened to make the atmosphere so intense all of a sudden, this made his brain tie up in knots trying to figure it out.

"Until we meet again, Apollo Justice..." And with that Phoenix Wright made his leave and shutting the door behind him made it so that single slam of firm wood left a lingering echo throughout the entire apartment.

Everybody looked really stunned by this odd behaviour as they stared at the door with wide eyes and never once took their eyes off it, as if they were completely fixated on the door but eventually their gaze fell upon Apollo.

Clearly something great was to come for the runt of the pack.

Apollo was still greatly confused as his horns withered once again and his brows furrowed and his lips pulled into an annoyed frown, his eyes being lidded in further annoyance at the air Phoenix's mysteriousness had left.

'_I could have done without the cryptic wisdom but I guess that's all I'm getting for now...' _He thought in annoyance.

Apollo looked down at his wrist and his reacquired bracelet as his fist clenched around it tightly, his digits clenching very tightly in determination, before he stared outside the window to watch Phoenix turn the corner of the street until he was out of sight. He didn't even look back or anything which was really strange but he decided to take comfort in Phoenix's words that they would cross paths again.

Despite their lies Wocky and the other two boys were let off with a really stern warning but Apollo didn't mind that really, he was just glad and overcome with joy at what had just happened right in front of him. It was then Mrs. Blunt walked up towards Apollo with a very empty look in her eyes as she looked away from him, as if wanting to avoid him.

"Apollo," she started with a somewhat less stern voice then before "Now that Mr. Wright is gone, I will still allow you to keep you're bracelet but I would like you to keep you're annoyingly high voice down in the mornings."

Apollo gave an army's salute as his eyes narrowed in determination. This was the best day ever for him!

She continued "I may not seem like it but I'm a woman of my words. You may do what you will with that blasted thing!" She then left the scene with little to no emotion in her wake but Apollo could tell that Phoenix had broken her steel guards and he wished to do the same someday to someone in trouble.

He looked down at his bracelet once more and examined it with a happy grin. He had no idea what had happened just now but he could say with certainty that his life could only improve from here on out now that his hero had actually saved him.

Apollo narrowed his eyes as he held his fist up in the air and he let out in almighty raise of the voice to prepare himself for whatever came his way in the future and then that fist turned into an epic point.

"Here comes Justice!"

* * *

**A/N: Whew, finally! This took AGES to write but I did it! I'm proud of this chapter since its my longest one so far on record! I'm sure that this is one of the longest Phoenix Wright chapter ever but it also seems that Phoenix knows something Apollo doesn't.**

**I know Phoenix isn't supposed to meet Apollo until much later but then I thought about the fact that Phoenix had amnesia at some point so could forget about their meeting all those years ago. **

**It also appears that Apollo's powers might be kicking in and stuff. Why did I make Wocky an orphan, you might also ask? Well I think he looks nothing like the other Kitakis so I thought that he could be the adopted son so that's where this came from. Plus I wanted to add some actual characters in the story so I made it Wocky since I couldn't find anyone else matching up to Apollo's age. **

**Don't worry, Clay Terran will also come into the story soon. It may take awhile but I don't mind and I will try and get the next chapter up soon! Please review and I hope you like it.**

**-Chloemcg**


	3. Remember a melody

**Disclaimer: I would never own the characters of Phoenix Wright since they belong to Capcom, I may have some original characters as the chapters go on but any characters that don't belong to me are made from Capcom and their respective owners.**

**Origins of Justice.**

* * *

Apollo rolled on his side as he slept deeply, his mouth wide open as he snored so loudly that it could rival his "chords of steel" yet drool poured from out the side of his mouth in rivulets and on to his pillow, dampening the cozy material, as he hugged on tight to his pillow and even mumbled some random stuff like "Can I have the rainbow coloured ice cream?" Or "I wanna pet the cute little ducklings" in between snores as his two horns of hair drooped towards the pillow, his cheek leaning heavily against the pillow and all.

He was now almost 10 years old now and his life had changed a few years ago when his personal idol had really saved his bacon from being deep fried in grease and fat oil, if you would like the details of that terminology then don't ask.

Apollo scratched subconsciously at his head as he felt his entire body snuggle up in the sweet, blissful warmth of the blankets he was happily wrapped in as he smiled in his sleep. He loved feeling the comforting warmth of his bed in the morning and he thought that his sweet sleep could never be disturbed.

However, it was then that he felt his ears latch on to a sudden noise and even though it was rather faint it was enough to catch him off guard as his eyes snapped open and he quickly discovered that he was tightly entangled in the blankets he had previously treasured. He didn't exactly know how to react to this sudden realisation but he didn't even know that he was already on the edge of the bed and he had quickly toppled over and fell to the floor with a heavy thud.

"Ow!" He yelped in pain as he was now buried beneath a heap of blanket on the floor.

He slowly lifted his head with the blanket draped over it and the rest of his body so Apollo's horns were being heavily drooped as the blanket pressed them down. Actually, Apollo's hair was a little messier and some hairs were out of place.

He was kind of sad that he was awake but he tried really hard not to give into the extra minutes of sleep he so desperately wanted as he very slowly climbed to his stiffened legs and got to work on waking his body up. He made sure his back was straight as he began to stretch his arms up into the air so he could make them work today and after a satisfying sound of the air sitting in between his bones popping, he decided to move on and investigate the noise that woke him up.

Apollo stumbled around a bit before getting used to walking and he began to walk heavily towards the window as he raised a hand to his mouth so he could stifle a loud yawn and so nobody could smell the stench of his morning breath (even though there was nobody else in the room) which he normally used mouthwash to fix since it was always accompanied by a nasty taste inside his mouth. He blinked his eyes heavily but was beginning to wake up more as the seconds ticked by.

It seemed to take forever but Apollo finally reached the window and pulled open the drawn silk curtains meant to block out sunlight each morning but what -or rather who- he saw, put a huge grin on his face as his tiredness dissipated instantly upon seeing a pair of endearing yellow-green eyes that had familiar slitted pupils.

"Oh, Alice!" Apollo exclaimed happily but he was a little quieter than normal since he didn't want a repeat of last time he had used his chords of steel to bring the house down even though things were better now that Wocky had left and Apollo wasn't bullied so relentlessly.

Alice was a cat who would usually come and visit the orphanage regularly but she would also come and see Apollo from time to time since she was Apollo's secret pet that he usually kept fed and cleaned while she spent her life outdoors, probably getting in all sorts of cuts and scrapes with other stray alley cats. She was a young adult tabby cat who had sported a bright red bandanna that would shine like stars in the sunlight and her beautiful coat was soft and neatly brushed by Apollo himself since even though she was technically a stray, he still tried to take care of her.

Apollo quietly opened the window and allowed the tabby in as she sauntered in with her worm-like tail slowly weaving through the air happily as she too stretched her back tiredly. She stayed up on the perch of the window however as if she was aware that by leaving traces then Apollo would get in trouble and the boy didn't deserve a lick of that nonsense.

Alice purred as the boy in question began to softly stroke her divine back and pet her head a few times as she rubbed her head against Apollo's side in deep affection and bliss as her little pink nose twitched along with her clean little whiskers that were as neatly lined out as guitar strings. The cat mewled softly while cuddling up to Apollo who happily responded with a chuckle and even more loving strokes as he stared down at her adoringly.

To Apollo, Alice's purring sounded like the revving engine of a motorboat yet those sounds were like the warm lake of sweet honey bears probably dream about in their sleep and he couldn't resist but find them adorable as he smoothed the brown-grey fur covering the cat from head to paw. He held the tabby in his arms for a minute before he finally put her back on the window sill and went to retrieve an item from beneath his wardrobe.

He got down on his stiff knees and reached an arm into a hole that was engraved underneath the doors of the wardrobe and when he felt something plastic and smooth, he slowly dragged it into the light so he could know if he had grabbed the correct item. It was a light green food bowl filled with some creamy milk.

Apollo grinned happily upon knowing that he had retrieved this specific object and stood up again to go and give the cat her daily fill so she wouldn't starve herself out there. He loved cats, something he would never admit openly, but he also took her with him to explore more things about being a lawyer since his dreams had been completely revived by Phoenix Wright's stepping in all those years ago. He would never forget it, even though he had a feeling that something was about to happen.

He was still baffled about why Phoenix left so suddenly after that whole affair with Wocky lying to Mrs. Blunt and why his bracelet and sight reacted to those lies and it crossed his mind the following days since he was so confused but he decided to leave it up to fate.

He gently placed the bowl down in front of Alice and she eagerly bowed her head so she could begin drinking the creamy substance in the bowl and her sand-paper tongue left ripples in the milk from where she constantly dunked her tongue into it before putting it back inside her mouth and dunking it back in the milk with eager speed.

Apollo was pleased with himself but he also realised that it was a school day. He needed to get ready and get prepared for a day of learning in the nearby school for young children even though his outfit was still not the most cheerful thing to wear. He didn't care as long as it meant a chance to learn more things for his planned out future.

He grinned as he began to walk towards the bathroom that thankfully was next to his bedroom so he wouldn't have to leave his room.

Alice was a secret that Apollo kept to himself only since the orphanage doesn't allow pets. He was at the age where breaking the rules would be a habit for a boy so of course, his heart pouring out for poor Alice, he decided to take care of her when she came to visit him on a regular basis since the orphanage was her normal source of food and scavenging items. He loved that cat so much and would treat her like a human most of the time!

The young horn-haired boy walked towards the bathroom door while rubbing the arm bearing his special bracelet across his tired eyes yet he heavily moved his legs. He was always very stiff and rather lazy first thing in the mornings and when he stepped into the bathroom he decided to look in the mirror and see how his hair had faired the night and gave a heavy sigh of annoyance at seeing the hairs out of place.

'_Awww man, my hair looks like a rats nest.' _Apollo thought as he ran a hand through his less then neat hairstyle and even his horns withered upon discovering this atrocity.

He closed his eyes and shook his head with a sigh. Clearly this wasn't going to be the easiest of feats. He had fixed his hair time and time again so this should be no different!

He walked towards the sink, turned on the taps on quite a high blast and put his head beneath the spout as he began to dampen his brown tufts of hair beneath the waterfall of tap water and he made sure to smooth it as he was careful to make sure he didn't mess it up anymore. He liked his hair and wanted to be kept the way he liked it, after all.

Apollo spent a minute and a half of washing his hair beneath the taps and when he removed his head from in the bowl, he looked in the mirror again and this time it was totally soaking wet to the scalp. Even his horn-like fringe was withered from how wet it was as little drops squeezed out the tip of each withered peice of hair that hung just over Apollo's right eye as it had been swept to one side.

He straightened his posture and reached towards the mirror so he could open it and discover a hidden compartment that had been stacked with hair conditioner and shampoo and even a little wooden comb that looked quite exquisite. Grinning upon finding his secret stash, Apollo reached for a bottle of shampoo and emptied its slick, oily contents on to his head so he could scrub it into his scalp as to make his head a bubbly mass.

Apollo had begun singing a small, quiet tune as his fingers dug deep into his scalp and messaged deep into his head as to get every piece of hair just right. He wanted it to be perfect but he couldn't understand why he was singing.

"Sugar, Sugar...O that night, in your embrace. When you stole away the keys, my heart held on to so tight..."

Apollo's eyes snapped open whence he realised something that was very self-contradictory: he didn't even know this song!

He knew somehow that he didn't make it up on the spot but this was different. He had heard it before but he didn't know where and he was pretty sure the others kids in the orphanage didn't even know this peaceful melody. He was sure that he was so shocked by this realisation that he instantly stopped scrubbing and actually forgot where he was for a moment.

'_Wait a second...!' _Apollo thought before speaking his thoughts aloud "Why am I even singing this!?"

Music was of little interest to him so it came as no surprise that this subconscious melody was very, very surprising to him indeed. But why was he doing it in the first place? He also sensed a faint familiarity to the melody like he had heard it before somewhere...But where?

He couldn't think since it hurt his head to do it. He could think of nowhere where he could hear such sweet, almost lulling lyrics or even such comforting control of an angelic voice. Maybe he had heard this in the past somewhere, somehow?

Apollo shook his head to snap himself out of it. He needed to focus; it was a school day, after all!

He decided to wrap this up as he continued to scrub at his head a little while longer until he was satisfied with the shampooing he had been doing for the past few minutes. He always strived to make his hair look great like it always had done since the day he was born so it was half natural and half the work of some hair products. Apollo could not have been more pleased with himself as he rinsed his hair off once more under the tap and used his comb to smooth it out, knowing that he had little time for anymore stalling if he wanted to keep his 'secret' hidden.

When he had finished combing it through and made sure his horns of hair stuck up neatly, Apollo put the comb down and dashed back towards his bed room so he could make his bed and other things.

The bed room was actually a quaint little room where the carpets were a deep teal colour and the walls were plastered with white wall paper. There was also a wardrobe sat by the window so little sunlight could get by it, there was also a few other things which personally belonged to Apollo such as a few posters stuck on the wall with Phoenix Wright's picture, a few news papers and that involved the one which inspired Apollo's honorary last name, and even a few drawings of Apollo shouting "Objection" in a cartoony fashion even though the artwork was inadequate.

He carefully made his bed and smoothed the bedding over as he wanted this over with quickly. Even though he saw Alice laying on the window cill with a humorous glint in her eyes as her tail flicked almost slyly as her ears stood pricked and alert.

Apollo quirked a brow towards the mischievous moggy and asked through fits of chuckles "What are you looking so smug about?"

Alice mewed in response as she sat up and pawed at the window as if she was trying to tell her friend something. This grabbed Apollo's attention as he allowed his curiosity to take full bloom and he walked towards the window and peered out towards the road down below although what he saw made his heart freeze completely and his eyes were fixated on the little yellow spludge of a figure and he knew exactly what it was as he tried to register this.

"Oh no..." He gasped before he made a mad dash out the door "I'm gonna be late!"

He must have slept in since he didn't have the time to change outfit or anything but nobody would know the difference since each onesie looked the same. Apollo snatched up the satchel that was his school bag from the floor and ran out the door as fast as he could. He was very much worried that he would crush his perfect attendance record, that included sick days.

He couldn't miss a day of school!

He retraced his steps when he realised that he was leaving Alice alone in his room and risking her safety and brought her off the indoor window cill and decided to put her back outside but before he could, Apollo decided to hold on to the cat for a little while longer.

He cradled the tabby close to his chest and he snuggled into the sweet, fluffy fur that covered the cats body. Apollo even rubbed his chin delicately on Alice's head as he closed his eyes softly and made sure that his arms were enveloping around the curious feline and he really didn't wish to let her go since he was always worried about what life on the road could do to her and he could even feel her throat vibrate as the cat rested its neck against his shoulder.

"Be careful, Alice..." Apollo whispered as softly as he could and then he reluctantly extended both arms to put Alice on the outdoor window cill and she slowly clambered down towards the ground yet she left an air of sadness behind her.

Apollo felt sadness take hold for a second. He was always worried about Alice during her days out there in the real world but he decided to be strong and have faith that she would be okay and he narrowed his eyes and smiled confidently in determination as he uttered his usual chant to himself as he furrowed his brows over his eyes filled of confidence.

"My name is Apollo Justice and I'm fine!" Apollo laughed heartily as he raised a fist in the air and you could swear that he was glowing with complete and utter determination "Here I come, world!"

And with that, Apollo made the maddest dash he could so he could catch the bus on time as he hurried down the stairs and he was running so fast that he could be certain that he was sweating everywhere but that was probably because that he sort of neglected to give himself a proper wash and he was running so quick that his sweat was seeping through his ebony black onesie and his feet were working overtime as he didn't even recall that he hadn't eaten yet, either.

He just needed to get to school but he was very much unaware of the events that was about to take place...

* * *

**A/N: Ooh, Apollo seemed to have remembered his mother a little. The song he was singing was actually a line of what will eventually be "the guitar serenade" and it could have been the melody of the song that his mother had left him with. **

**I also thought that Apollo should have a friend which is a cat, I had the idea after reading a Fanfiction about Michaelangelo from the teenage mutant ninja turtles and his cat Klunk. I also felt a little mean about Apollo not having any friends in the entire world but I will change that very soon. **

**Next we will see what his school life is like but I hope you liked this chapter.**

**Thanks! Sorry this chapter was rather short.**

**-Chloemcg**


	4. Clay and Apollo

**Disclaimer: I would never own the characters of Phoenix Wright since they belong to Capcom, I may have some original characters as the chapters go on but any characters that don't belong to me are made from Capcom and their respective owners.**

**Origins of Justice.**

* * *

"Good morning class!"

A kindly voice said that belonged to a graceful woman who wore glasses over her beautiful sapphire blue eyes and her hair was long and wavy as beautiful curls flowed behind her head and reached to her neck. She also wore some dark blue attire to match her pretty eyes as her lips were stretched into the softest, motherly grin ever and it was very genuine.

The woman stood in front of a chalk board and she held a small piece of chalk in her fingers as she smiled at the flock of children sitting at desks in front of her as she examined each and every one of those desks.

Everyone responded back in a cheerful, unanimous reply "Good morning, mrs. Matilda..."

Mrs. Matilda was a sweet woman who appeared to be in her late 20s but she was still very nice and kind and everyone loved her. Seriously, you would think she would be harsh when it came to teaching the orphans but she was the exact opposite of every definition of the word. She was especially kind to Apollo whom she had noticed was running sort of late and at this realisation, her brows could not help but lower in worry.

The tone behind her voice now had a bit of worry and concern in it as she realised that one of her favourite students were running late "Wait a moment...where's Apollo?"

She hadn't seen Apollo all morning and this was worrying as he had a perfect attendance record even when he was sick. He just loved to learn a lot and didn't usually show signs of weakness since he wanted to be a strong lawyer when I grew up.

As if on cue, a sudden slam of the door was heard and it was followed by a screech, a hard thud and some hard groans of pain that belonged to someone all too familiar as she looked towards the door to her left and she was shocked to find that Apollo had tripped and fell to his stomach as he just lay there while panting heavily.

'_Ooooh...I should really be careful where I'm going.' _Apollo thought to himself as he slowly sat up but not before he was helped to stand by his very nice school teacher and he smiled kindly as he stared right into her wonderful eyes that were filled with motherly concern that he couldn't help but extremely mesmerising. He found that his teacher was the only mother figure in his life and treated her as such but also treated her with utmost respect as his teacher so when she needed space he gave it to her.

He was smiling even wider as Mrs. Matilda asked him worriedly "Apollo, are you okay?"

Apollo nodded although he did flash a embarrassed grin as he fiddled with his horns of hair and his eyes scrunched up while showing signs of a little humiliation "Y-yeah, I'm fine." He slowly shifted his legs and began to awkwardly and slowly walk towards his desk although the stares everyone were giving him much reminded him of a pack of hungry wolves with their eyes trailing their potential prey.

Apollo frowned worriedly and a trickle of sweat ran down his forehead as if that really was the case and he made a quicker attempt to seat himself at his desk although he noticed something very odd about the classroom. He couldn't place his finger on it but he decided not to dwell on it anymore at the risk of twisting his brains so tight and giving him an outrageous migraine.

He stared directly at his teacher even though he sat in the far right of the second front row of seats so he couldn't see an incredible much thanks to those sitting in front of him.

Apollo frowned when he tried to move and peak over the person sitting in front of him's head but the strange hat the boy wore and the spiky black hair beneath it made it very hard to see very much at all so he gave up trying to see and decided to play it by ear...literally.

He could hear the teachers rambling and sweet comments on life, the beauty of nature and other stuff but Apollo couldn't help but suddenly settled his train of focus on the boy sat in his midst. Why did this child poke his curiosity so much? He couldn't place a hard finger on any of it but he decided to listen further so maybe his teacher could explain.

Mrs. Matilda had stopped jabbering and gestured towards the boy sitting in front of Apollo with a kindest smile she could muster "Alright, we have a new boy joining us here named Clay." she gazed down at her students "Shall we say "hi" to him?"

Everyone except Apollo nodded eagerly in reply.

Apollo was so confused by this. So this was a new student joining them, was it? He couldn't help but be intrigued by this since he wasn't even informed of someone new and besides, the black onesie he wore made it clear that he was an orphan now too. Seeing that black outfit made Apollo feel pity towards the poor kid even though he hadn't even had an actual glance at him let alone know anything about him.

The boy, named Clay, stood up and glum fully walked towards Mrs. Matilda's side as he kept his hat tipped over his eyes yet all you could see about his face was that he had a plaster slapped across his nose and his lips had been twisted into the lowest frown of depression ever.

Already Apollo could tell that this boy was suffering from something traumatic but what?

Clay's hat looked like one of those captain hats that pilots would wear but it was all black and velvet like it belonged in the general of an army of pilots or something. It matched the uniform but at least the hat made it a bit more charismatic. Apollo couldn't help but smile at the fact that someone had some appreciation to change the outfit a little and make it more happy.

Although Clay didn't seem to want anyone to see his actual face as if it would be a catastrophe for his confidence...or what little amounts of it he has left, at least.

Now that the boy's hat and figure wasn't obstructing his sight anymore Apollo stared in keen interest at the boy who stood right beside the teacher even though he looked like he wanted to run out of the nearest door and then toss himself into the ocean to die.

Everyone knew that wouldn't happen but it sure seemed that way.

Mrs. Matilda smiled down at Clay softly and patted his shoulder encouragingly as if to urge him to say something to the class.

Clay didn't reply with any movement but he did however sigh heavily before he started to speak although when he did, everyone could catch the sadness and despair glaring from deep within his vocal cords and it sounded really strained as if he had been crying his eyes out and was just recovering.

"Hi I'm Clay Terran..." He kept his head hung as if he didn't wish to show anyone his face "I'm a new boy here and I wanna be an astronaut when I grow up." He didn't want to say anymore yet he itchily shifted on the spot as he continued to keep his face lowered to avoid anyone seeing his most likely tearstained face.

Clay looked so sad as he didn't even once lift his head to look at anyone in the class as it was clear that he refused to look anywhere else but at the floor beneath his feet as his lip visibly trembled even though nobody pointed it out.

So he just depressingly ran towards his new desk and kept his head even lower than before as if to escape any more questions or queries regarding himself so he wouldn't have to speak to anyone else and keep his thoughts to himself.

He returned to his desk and sat down in front of Apollo even though he was totally clueless of the fact that the young brown haired that sat behind him with a misty look in his deep brown eyes.

Apollo frowned sympathetically. He felt somewhat sorry for Clay since he was clearly just left an orphan by whatever he had just gone through that had left these marks of depression that clearly resided on the inside. Apollo wanted to wrap his arms around him in a brotherly hold and tell him everything would be alright but he could tell that Clay didn't exactly desire any form of human contact right now and he decided to respect his wishes as he was now truly torn on weather to help him or not.

Apollo's golden heart shattered into thousands of tiny pieces as he felt truly sad for his new classmate and just wanted to cheer him up even just a little bit. Why couldn't he make that his mission for the day?

He just looked down in deep thought as his eyes were filled with sorrow for the boy in front of him and Apollo could only stare down at the fine wood of his desk.

What could he do to cheer up a boy he knew nothing about?

* * *

Apollo walked around the corridors in a desperate search for his locker which he had a habit if misplacing. He felt the loud chattering of other kids filling his ears from all directions as he was caught in a tight hold of the bustling crowd of children who paid no heed to the boy with highly peculiar styled hair?

He couldn't help but feel topsy turvy as he just tried to move around and recall where his blasted desk is.

"...Hmmm..." Apollo murmured to nobody in particular as he weaved carefully through the gaps the flock of children left so he could try and escape the tidal wave "Locker where are yoooou?" He sing songed to himself as he narrowed his eye to focus on any locker that resembled his in anyway (this was hard, though, since they all looked the same) through the many heads that towered him slightly.

He rocked back and forth on his heels as he allowed himself to be carried off by the massive horde of children trying to get to the hall without tripping over their own feet or something like that. Apollo now knew what a starfish felt like when it was powerless to move as the great lapping waves of the ocean carried it away.

He was carried off towards the hall and found that his locker search would have to wait until later as his stomach churned in hunger, instantly reminding him that he had skipped breakfast trying to get to school on time even though it was now lunch time. He frowned when he looked down at his stomach and his eyes softened, he felt that something was up and it wasn't just in his stomach either.

Apollo looked up from his rumbling stomach and actually felt his heart sink like a rock at what he saw. He saw Clay sit all alone at a table while poking his spoon at the sloppy mush that was supposed to be school dinners, the main reason Apollo usually brought a school lunch but he forget about it when he was trying to catch the bus.

The boy swallowed hard as bullets of sweat began to seep through his skin and form rivulets around his thinningly bushy eyebrows yet he couldn't help but tug on the buttoned collar as he felt overcome by a hot flush and a heavy blush arose to his cheeks. He always kept to himself since everyone else ignored him so he had no experience with socialising so he didn't know much at all about making friends.

He puffed out his chest and affirmed that he could do this as he walked towards the table where Clay sat and sat himself beside the miserable young boy who kept his head low and Apollo grinned with an upbeat glimmer shining within his dark brown pools, his lips pulled into a kind smile as he scooted beside his new classmate and he had a bright aura radiating off him that would have been contagious.

Apollo was careful about his approach to this boy as he didn't know him well enough if he would lash out or not but Clay didn't appear to care about his presence.

"Err..." Apollo looked down thoughtfully to try and spark up some conversation "Clay is it?"

Clay didn't respond but seemingly brushed off Apollo's presence as he lowered the brim of his hat even lower so his eyes could be hidden.

Apollo tried again to start some talking "So how are you finding school so far? Is it any good?"

Silence. That's all that was used as his response to Apollo's question. Clay felt like a black hole, an enigma and a curse to life even. He wanted to grab an rubber and erase himself from existence like a cute drawing on some paper so he could dwell on his sorrows and wouldn't have to feel worse about himself. He brought his legs up so he could hide his face even further although the sudden action made the table jump a little as he needed to hide his shame.

Apollo frowned in worry. No boy should be acting this way! It was kind of unnerving since he knew what it felt like to be alone in the world and he could even sympathise with Clay as he wanted to draw the saddened black mass into a hug to calm his whirlpool of negative emotions even though emotions weren't his kind of thing. All he could do was try and sit with him.

"...Y'know?" Apollo turned his head towards Clay when an idea came to his mind "I think I have just the thing to cheer you up."

Apollo swiftly leapt to his feet and began to run off towards the school hallway yet he gave a reassuring smile as if to say to Clay "I'll be right back" or something. He skidded a little to one side at first before dashing off down the corridor no doubt to get this "thing" and Clay stared at where Apollo had just left curiously.

Tears streamed from his eyes as Clay recounted the events of what had happened a few days ago. A horrible tragedy befell him and he could never forgive himself for what he had done to her, to his mother. Clay couldn't bare the heavy weight of guilt that suppressed his lungs and plagued his mind like a pack of illness-ridden rats running through the streets of the Victorian era. He squeezed his eyes closed upon recalling his mother's dead face and even more tears streamed down his face and left soaking wet streaks down his cheeks.

"Mother..." Clay murmured to himself "...M-mother...why?" He sobbed and started to cry as he buried himself in his black attire and his hat fell to the floor and thus his head full of pitch black, spiky hair had been revealed to the world as he buried his face in heavily masses of sorrow and guilt. He couldn't live with it! It put too big a strain on his heart and that was enough to make him break down on the second.

However, it was then that Clay heard a very intimidating voice and this made him look up from his world of pitch black and he frowned.

"Well, well, well..." The voice began tauntingly "It seems the new kid is crying his eyes out like the little crybaby he is."

Clay didn't know who owned that voice but he stared anxiously towards the owner and he was paralysed in fear upon finding a big boy standing in front of him but he asked through hiccups and nervous stuttering as he uncontrollably quaked in his seat from the mere venom he could hear dripping from this boy's voice.

He rubbed his eyes with a sleeve and yelled out bravely "Leave me alone! I d-don't need the likes of y-you to p-p-pester me!" He sniffled as more tears accumulated in his tear ducts and threatened to dampen his face even further than before.

The bully, however, simply threw the table aside (knocking the sloppy school dinner off with it) and snatched Clay up by the collar of his black onesie and said through gritted teeth as he pressed his nose angrily against the young boy's "Well, plaster-nose, let's see what else you've got other than a sharp tongue!"

Clay swallowed worriedly. He was about to be beaten to a pulp but he couldn't back away from it. If this bulky freak wanted a fight then bring it on. He just hoped that the injuries he was to sustain weren't going to be so bad since he needed to have some clarity and who knows, maybe this should put him out of his misery so he could join his mother.

"B-bring it on..." Clay stammered while glaring the bully in the eyes yet the fist belonging to the bully was held back in preparation.

* * *

**A/N: This should be a two parter chapter and part one is complete. This is how I think Clay and Apollo become best friends but it's not over yet, what will happen next to poor Clay? Will Apollo return and come to the rescue? **

**What does Apollo have in mind to cheer Clay up? Find out in the next chapter and hopefully it will be a bit longer. **

**Btw, in my last review it said something about Apollo adopting a cat. Where do I find that exactly? I would like to know.**

**Thanks, guys!**

**-Chloemcg**


	5. Terran and Justice

**Disclaimer: I would never own the characters of Phoenix Wright since they belong to Capcom, I may have some original characters as the chapters go on but any characters that don't belong to me are made from Capcom and their respective owners.**

**Origins of Justice.**

* * *

"Hmm...Where is it?" Apollo asked nobody in particular as he searched the area for the specific item that was meant to cheer up the new boy. He just wanted to assist Clay and make him feel better about life since he was clearly filled with angst and despair that needed to be shrunk down and removed as his eyes scanned each and every locker he had happened to pass.

Moments ago he had ran here to get something special for Clay and he had been searching for maybe 15 seconds now. He didn't recognise any of these lockers as his and needed to do something to make it distinguishable so he could tell which one was which.

The number order and the fact that they were all looking the same didn't really help.

He mumbled something inaudible to himself as Apollo continued to search for his locker. It was then that he recalled something that made his locker a little different from the others. His locker had a strange smell of melted titanium and sweet-tooth liberating items. Apollo wasn't just known for his unique hair and his antique bracelet but he was also known for having quite the sweet tooth when it came to certain times.

Apollo sniffed the air, his eyes narrowed in keen curiosity, and began to wander down the hall yet each step he took brought the scent closer and closer to his alfactory receptors and the smell even made him drool a little as the light scented treats actually made his nose hair stand up in reaction and this could only mean one thing:

He had finally been brought ever closer to finding the thing needed to cheer Clay up.

Apollo soon reached his locker when the scent was powerful and he was quick to unlock it while he tried to remember the combination to open up his locker and expose all his secrets and other things. He may have almost missed his class but that didn't mean that he came prepared with some leftover hazel nut brownies the night before and stuffed them into his satchel. He actually was pretty proud of himself when he finally opened the door and revealed the true heaven that awaited him.

Apollo's locker had a small paper bag that most likely contained the goods yet there were even more posters of Phoenix Wright plastered at the very back. It was like a shrine dedicated to his idol even though the ace attorney was very much alive and he was even rumoured to be topping quite a few other attorneys in the world.

This made the boy wonder, for a brief moment, if he would ever amount to or even surpass Phoenix in a shape or form in anyway?

Apollo shook his head defiantly and he mentally kicked himself for thinking like that. He would be just as good as Phoenix Wright since he didn't want to be even better then the unbeatable champion of defending and believing his clients until the bitter end.

Apollo was thrilled to have met such a kind-hearted man at the youthful age of seven years. He shook his head again to rid himself of his nostalgia and he decided to make haste back to young Clay since he needed to be made better and he didn't feel right just leaving the poor kid alone like that for so long while he was so depressed.

He snatched his bag and made sure to lock his locker door before he made the biggest run of his life back towards the hall. The boy wasn't sure why but his horns withered in concern upon realizing that he was hearing some very abnormal sounds as he came ever closer to the dinner hall. He heard some crunching and yelps in pain as if someone was being beaten up...

Apollo's eyes widened in horror as he dropped his paper bag and made haste towards the scene "No...Clay!"

He didn't know he could run so fast. Apollo's lungs were strained as he tried his hardest to race on to the scene but when he skidded to a screeching halt in front of the doorway he quickly discovered the true horror of what had been happening since his worst fears have now been confirmed.

There, in the middle of the dinner hall, he saw a very big boy holding Clay up by the collar yet the table had been tossed aside rather roughly since there was also a spilt amount of nauseating mush. Clay appeared to have been really afraid since he was jerking about in the high grip of the bully yet he appeared to have been beaten quite a bit. He yowled in agony at the sudden fist that was sent ramming into his stomach and this made him squeeze his eyes shut in pain as more blows were delivered, especially to his left leg.

Apollo could feel a knot of anger twist tight in his soul as he tried so hard not to take out his fury but he had to do something! He couldn't just stand here and let that poor kid be beaten to a pulp like this even if he had done something wrong! He glared icy daggers towards the bully and he didn't even realise that he was now sprinting at full speed and he rammed his body into the bigger kid bravely and this knocked Clay out of his tight grip in midair.

Clay looked totally sore from the beatings he took as he just lay there with his arms wrapped around his stomach and his hat had been knocked to the floor as he just lay there unresponsive yet his eyes were glued to his apparent saviour who panted from the action he had just taken.

Apollo paid no heed to Clay's look of surprise but he was too busy scowling at the one who had injured him so. Apollo breathed in deep before letting out shorter sighs in an attempt to cool himself down before he looked like a hot-tempered maniac yet he gritted his teeth in a way to intimidate anyone and his dark brown pools were very fiery with rage and fury. He stood straight and glared deeply at Clay's assailant as he said with a very chilled voice.

"Look, buddy, I don't know what that kid do to threaten you but I can assure you that none of it is his fault." He glared even further "but harming someone as vulnerable as that kid is downright cruel and very much what cowards would do!"

Apollo stood between the bully and Clay as a small draft blew some tufts of hair enough to bristle them ever so slightly. The silence in the atmosphere was so eerie that you could shatter it with a simple breath yet the threatening glare shimmering within the brown-haired lawyer-to-be was still there and it even sparked something he had never felt before: Courage.

He never before had the guts to take on a bully for just anyone, maybe it was because of seeing this truly innocent boy be picked on.

Apollo knew that he could sympathise with Clay and promised that he would help him overcome with whatever may come his way and that he would always have his back. It brought back old memories, actually.

He remembered that endless feeling of helplessness, that he was dropped into a world of darkness without a single ray of light to shine his way. Remembering what was going to happen to his bracelet brought small tears to his eyes but he quickly blinked them away as to focus on the situation at hand.

The bully raised his fist at Apollo as if he was about to hit him but before anything else could happen, the blaring of a school bell caught everyone's attention as everyone (including the onlookers) looked up to listen to whatever this radio voice had to say.

"_Faculty, it is time for you to return to you're respected classes. That will be all..." _

Apollo sighed in somewhat relief. This gives the term "Saved by the bell" a whole new meaning! He never felt so happy to hear that very strange voice ring throughout the hallways and echo for ages and linger. He looked back at the bully who simply flared his nostrils much like a bull would when being pulled away from a bull fighter.

He could hardly believe it, he didn't have to fight after all! But he still couldn't believe that he had just rammed into the side of a massive boy such as him and rescue Clay from receiving more injuries than needed. But when Apollo looked down to see if Clay was alright; the boy just stood up by himself, cringing at his leg pains from some damage, and hurriedly hobbled away and didn't even go back to retrieve his small pilots hat.

Apollo was a bit sad when Clay ran -or limped- out the door and disappeared right around the corner as quickly as one could. It was as if he really was scared about what had just happened but he couldn't show it since his face had been straightened to look like one would when he was strong and defiant of his fate although it was easy to tell that Clay was far from feeling defiant and strong.

Everyone else might have been fooled by the tough guy act but Apollo wasn't buying it; not for a single solitary second.

Smoothing his two spikes of hair back a little, Apollo got down to his knees and picked up Clay's hat off the ground yet he stared at it with wonder and curiosity.

'_Woah...This is a cool hat!' _Apollo thought while examining the fine work put into making this awesome hat.

It was impressive to say the least, like it actually came from a pilot or general of some kind. The material was black to match the signature onesie the orphans wore at all times, there was a platinum badge sticking at the very front and it was just the right size to fit on to anyones head. Apollo smiled a tiny bit as he realised that both himself and Clay may have more in common then what meets the eye.

Apollo looked back up, though, when he thought about what to do next from here. He was lost in deep thought and he didn't even know where he was, his eyes were fixated on nothing but the empty space in front of him and out the door where Clay had just made a quick exit from.

What could he do?

* * *

Later that night...

The world was dark, gloomy and lonely. It filled Clay with the perfect sense of isolation as he buried his face in his hands that rested on his lap, the memories of his mother burned into his mind and was bound to leave a scar.

If he wasn't so troubled and saddened by the recent events that befell him, then he would have looked up at the night skies in deep thought and try and count the stars and see which planet to go to when he grew up. Clay sobbed and sniffed as he sat hunched over with his head kept low and he was pretty sure he would get a sore neck from looking down all the time and he was even seated on a wooden bench.

The skies above were filled with twinkling stars and were very enchanting, especially tonight. The trees afar were even rocked as they rustled against each ivy-branch to create the softest of crackles as if it was a nighttime lullaby created by the nature itself. Usually, hearing this soft gentle melody carried by the winds was something he and his mother would do but now she was no longer here.

It hurt so much to feel like you could have done something to prevent the outcome.

Clay was torn up on the inside as he continued to cry alone and the cold from the breeze didn't even bother him since he was already feeling numb and this wasn't anywhere else apparent then within his throat since the boy's voice sounded strained and grief-ful. He couldn't bare the weight of this loss weigh anymore on his shoulders as he felt totally responsible for his poor mother.

Upon recalling her peaceful expression of eternal slumber ignited even more grief within Clay and he broke down again as he sobbed even louder and wept while shaking like a little leaf "...Mom," He sobbed again but louder "...Mom..." He couldn't bare this feeling of hopelessness but he couldn't bare the thought of giving up either. Even though he felt like life wasn't worth living anymore, he felt like someone had cared.

What was that boy's name...? It sounded like it came from a Greek god or something...Apollo, wasn't it?

Speak of the devil and he shalt appear, a sudden rustling of the bushes suddenly latched on to Clay's ears as his swollen, puffy eyes widened immensely at hearing someone there in the bushes and most likely spying on him! He snuffled whence he saw a very familiar boy poke out from his lush hiding place with a small smile.

"Psst..." Apollo hissed towards Clay even though the boy was already in hearing range "Clay, I have something for you."

Clay was now officially interested. What could that boy possibly have that he would want? He couldn't talk nor even breathe right since he was so surprised yet more tears streamed from his eyes and streaked his cheeks in damp moisture that almost made him shiver from the cold nighttime air.

His strained voice became desperate as he waved his hands about in the air "G-Get away, Apollo! Don't come over here!"

He fought the urge to hug his own shoulders but by the time he had wrapped each arm across his chest, Apollo had already sat himself next to him...again.

Apollo smiled kindly as he passed Clay his hat and the small amount of shock and surprise on Clay's face afterwards was actually kind of exciting for young Apollo. This was the first time Clay had shown any other emotion then deep depression and volunteered distance that made his heart warm up a little. Finally they were getting somewhere!

Apollo reached a hand over to touch Clay's shoulder but the reaction was sort of less than encouraging as he had quickly jerked away from this kind action as if he didn't want to he touched. Clay was clearly suffering from a few mental issues that needed to be fixed before he could get anywhere.

"...You've lost you're mother, didn't you?" Apollo's voice was unusually quiet and sort of toned down compared to how loud his lungs are normally and he watched as Clay put the hat back on his head and his left hand dropped to his sore knee as if it was already bruising from the brutal beatings he took in the lunch hall.

"..." Clay hesitated in replying. Should he really tell this boy all his problems? Then again, he did save him earlier so maybe he could really trust him. Clay took a deep, shaky breath and let out a heavy sigh that plagued the air with far more sadness than before.

Clay finally spoke "...Yeah, I lost her and its all my fault..." He sounded broken but his eyes never fell off the quiet face of understanding Apollo had been wearing really patiently for the passed while. He explained how his mother used to be in the royal airforce in England and she had met his father who was the general of the american navy submarine armed forces. They soon had him but after finding out about the pregnancy, his father had left his mother and Clay was raised alongside his mother who treasured him above everything else.

Actually, she even made him a small pilots hat to keep his dream up and made him an even bigger one when he got even older. Clay was very happy with his life until she was flying a practice aircraft with everyone back at base watching this magnificent flying skills but then things quickly spiralled out of control and she had suffered a cardiac arrest while she was in the air and was found dead days after her plane crashed.

As Clay had no other living relatives: he had to be labeled an orphan and treated as such as he was immediately taken up by the Rock hard orphanage and was now starting his new life without his mother there with him. Clay thought that it was all his fault since he thought that if he had been on that aircraft with her then he could have done something to save her even though lots have tried assuring him that he couldn't have done anything to save her even if he was on that plane.

When he had finally finished his sad tale Clay wept harder than ever before as he wanted to collapse over Apollo's shoulder and cry himself dry but knew that wouldn't be very nice to the one person who was willing to listen to him.

Apollo looked down at his lap. He knew exactly how Clay felt, even though he had never met his own mother but he felt responsible for her having to leave him alone on a doorstep of the orphanage. He couldn't help but think of how hard it must have been to abandon your own child when you could no longer take care of it.

He looked back up when a sudden idea came to mind and Apollo smiled softly "Clay, listen to me...I don't have a mother either."

The truth hurt a little but Apollo could tell that Clay was instantly interested as he wiped a sleeve over his eyes and looked at the younger boy with perplex "Huh?"

Apollo nodded with a small frown "Yeah, I think everyone else has a mom. Why am I the only one?"

Clay shrugged, not knowing how to exactly answer Apollo's question. In all honesty Apollo was kind of chipper considering the saddening atmosphere that had been left behind for awhile since these two boys just sat in the cold.

However, despite this shrug, Apollo continued to talk "But, y'know, when I start to feel that way I always yell at the top of my lungs." He chuckled a little "I holler "I'm fine" and then you know what? I start to feel like maybe I really will be fine."

Apollo cleared his throat. He was ready to be heard out loud and he was not going to stop until Clay too felt better about himself. He slammed a fist down on the hard surface of the bench and yelled aloud "APOLLO JUSTICE IS FINE!" He panted afterwards but smiled at Clay encouragingly "C'mon, Clay, it's you're turn! Yell out you're name and say you're fine."

Clay hesitated again. He didn't want to get into trouble but he didn't see anyone in the courtyard since when he first arrived and saw many people bustling passed and acting as if he wasn't there even though he was in plains sight. He took in a deep breath before he shouted as loud as he could, trying to prevent himself from draining himself dry "Um, okay...Clay Terran...I-IS FINE!"

Apollo grinned hugely. He was finally getting somewhere with Clay! He grinned so big that it was hard to ignore just how sparkly his teeth were "There we go! Now we're both fine!" He laughed aloud as his heart soared through the air in the night. Apollo did shudder from the cool air but he was too happy with Clay and ignored it.

Clay tried shouting again and began to perk up a little as he too began to smile and his eyes began to brighten like a light "We're fine..." He laughed before he yelled it "WE'RE FINE!"

Apollo quirked a brow at his newly found friend and he couldn't help but send Clay a wry grin as he asked while trying not to break into a fit of laughter himself "What are you laughing about?" He chuckled "See? We're fine!" He touched Clay's shoulder and this time he didn't jerk away, actually it felt much more welcome this time and Clay felt really happy about this, he felt like life was once again worth living thanks to this kid and he joked right back, snapping playfully as he quirked his own brow.

"You laughed first!" He laughed and wiped a tear of hilarity from his eye "I'm fine, you're fine...We're both fine!"

Apollo and Clay both laughed in unison as their troubles had began to melt away from their lives and they felt like an unstoppable force. After a long time of laughing and sharing conversations, Apollo suggested while placing his hand on Clay's leg, making him wince in pain, with the softest of smiles "Say, we could catch a cold out here. Why don't we get back to the orphanage?"

Clay seemed a little nervous but decided that this would be a good course of action to take. He didn't want to play with his new friend while sick, would he? But before they could even stand up Clay had threw his arms around Apollo's neck and enveloped him in a brotherly hug as he smiled through closed eyes and he murmured softly with the utmost sincerity one could muster.

"Thanks, Apollo..."

And with that, they stood up and began to walk back towards the orphanage. Neither of them knew what was to come in the future but as they walked home under the sweet caress of moonlight they felt like a very strong team that could beat the strongest of opponents. The two boys never felt so much more happier to be alive as as they had walked off into the night, they could have sworn that they had each rid themselves of their own personal demons this night.

* * *

**A/N: Awww, Apollo and Clay are now friends. I tried to make this as nice a chapter as possible so I hope you liked it! I'm proud of this chapter and if you don't know about Clay and Apollo's relationship then look at Dual destinies that should pique your curiosity. Anyways, please review and I am glad that the whole cat thing was sorted out. **

**I just see Apollo as the kind of person who owns a cat. **

**Thanks!**

**-Chloemcg **


	6. Curiosity kills the cat

**Disclaimer: I would never own the characters of Phoenix Wright since they belong to Capcom, I may have some original characters as the chapters go on but any characters that don't belong to me are made from Capcom and their respective owners.**

**Origins of Justice.**

* * *

It had been days since Clay and Apollo first met and ever since then life had been really good for the both of them. Clay and Apollo shared the room they slept in, and whenever one had a nightmare about something then they'd talk for hours on end about their future dreams in career and never really grow tired.

The two boys sat at the buffet table while growing fidgety in their chairs for some reason. They were both anxious to get outside since the sun was shining so brightly in the cyan blue skies that were cleared from any sort of clouds. It was a gorgeous day to say the least and Apollo really wanted to introduce his new friend to a certain feline friend of his.

Although the strange thing is that Apollo hadn't seen heads or tail of Alice since the day he had met Clay and this was very odd behaviour indeed, not to mention that when she came home that night that she apparently gained a few pounds right down the middle and her temper had been rather short. Honestly Apollo didn't know what to do so he decided to go and look for her with Clay (if he wanted to) so they could meet face-to-face.

Apollo couldn't help but mutter something as he poked at the left over chicken bone collection on his plate with a fork. He felt really suspicious of all these signs Alice had been showing and he had sworn that he would get to the bottom of this today!

He lifted his head to look at Clay who had asked "Are you okay?"

Apollo looked at Clay and nodded while fumbling with his two spikes of hair subconsciously. Something was definitely amiss somehow and he was definitely going to get to the bottom of it. He turned his head to look towards his friend and forced a small smile to his lips yet Clay appeared to have seen right through his facade and folded his arms sternly across his chest.

"Polly, something's bothering you I know there is." Clay told him knowingly.

Apollo's fake smile fell and his eyes looked quite misty as he stared off into space but he was still aware of Clay's voice and presence. Was he REALLY that transparent? He tilted his head to one side as he looked back towards Clay. He could feel some blood rush to his face and make his entire face go a deep shade of scarlet and his horns of hair even withered in embarrassment and hung over his eyes.

Apollo sighed; there was no keeping things from Clay...

He explained about the cat he had taken care of although he kept his "Chords of steel" low as to make sure no adults or even any other of the children could hear them and tattle tale on them "Alright...I'm a little worried about another friend of mine: a cat named Alice."

Clay's face lit up like a light and was about to exclaim "WHAT"?! but slapped a hand over his mouth to stop himself from exposing this little secret.

The young boy with pitch black, spiky hair listened intently and patiently as Apollo explained that he had rescued Alice as a kitten from being lost in a storm drain during a heavy rainfall and that she was being carried off by a flood of water that made itself ankle deep in Los Angeles at the time. Apollo decided to take her in secretly until she was ready to be released since the orphanage had a rule permitting no pets but, much to Apollo's surprise, she kept on coming back each morning and night for some daily care.

He decided to look after her first thing in the mornings and last thing at night but he hadn't seen her for a short while now. It was kind of nerve wracking if he should be completely honest with himself.

"Woah..." Clay was bewildered by this "So you've been keeping a cat secret for all this time?"

Apollo nodded yet an apologetic gleam was swimming in his dark brown pools. He would have loved to have shown Clay Alice when she came in the mornings, in fact he would have allowed Clay to help care for her if he would like it. He smiled a little sheepish grin "Sorry, Clay, I would've told you sooner but I haven't seen Alice for days." His frown replaced the sheepish smirk as he had a crestfallen look in his eyes "Yet I haven't been able to find her anywhere."

It tore Apollo apart to have to think about poor Alice hungry, cold and alone. He could just see her eyes pleading him to come to the rescue and he so badly wanted to slam a fist on the table yet Clay saw Apollo's visible distress and laid a soothing hand on his shoulder as he decided to test Apollo on something in an effort to cheer him up.

"Polly, what is it you do when you feel sad?" Clay asked while furrowing a brow at his best friend.

Apollo avoided eye contact but muttered his answer "I always holler to myself "I'm fine", don't I?"

Clay nodded in confirmation. He knew that better than anyone that the one way to relieve stress is with yelling but then again, the both of them could get into serious trouble so Clay decided to try a different tactic as if to pacify his friend's worried emotions.

A heartfelt smile tugged at the corners of Clay's lips and he decided to do something about his usually upbeat friends almost sour attitude and he narrowed his now lidded eyes in determination "After the bell rings, I'll help ya find Alice!"

It was Apollo's turn to give a small but heartfelt smile. Clay was right, he just needed to tell himself that he was fine and keep following his dreams. He should at least discover where Alice went if he looked hard enough since she never really left the play ground of the orphanage except to find some little cat treats that Apollo had left her around the area so her instincts could be sharpened since she needed to be kept on her toes for when she gets caught up in a scrape again.

The bell rang just after they wordlessly agreed to find the mischievous moggy and both boys nodded in unison, faces etched in persistence, while they got to work on standing up and without so much as another word they dashed out the front door but only to get a face full of the unwanted brightness coming off the sun above and both Clay and Apollo had to shield their eyes as they needed to get used to the irritatingly harsh light.

From what the duo could feel beneath their feet, they were standing on top of the front doorstep yet it done little to get rid of their temporary blindness since they couldn't see very much at all. Apollo and Clay slapped their hands over their eyes to protect their vision to try and at least get a sense on where they should be going. Of course it took awhile of blinking to adjust their sights but they did eventually and they just looked out on to the playground which was filled with children wearing the same, dull black onesies.

Apollo was the first to recover his vision as he finally shook his head to rid himself of his disorientation and he got a better look at the huge playground below the steps.

Like always there was a huge swarm of children who were either older or younger then our two little heroes as they played many games together such as tag or something but Apollo knew that because of the huge mass of orphans swarming the playground that it would be exceedingly tricky to spot a single cat in there.

It would be very tricky to even weave successfully through the gaps that massive group had made.

The horn-haired boy tapped a thoughtful finger on his chin to think on Alice's best places to hang out; especially on humid days like these. She would love to spend those kind of days laying underneath a source of shade and just take a literal cat nap beneath the cooler place where no sunlight could get through. Apollo liked to spend time with her and lay by her side to ensure her safety but as he looked on towards the shaded place, he couldn't see her and this made him feel a little discouraged but he decided to keep on looking except now Clay had finally got his eyes to adjust to the harsh light shining from above.

They both scanned the entire place top to bottom for any signs of a tabby cat wearing a red bandanna around her neck.

Again they found nothing so they decided to bring up some reinforcements in the form of little tasty sardines that had quite the odour and it almost smelt tangy to add to the mix. They walked around with Apollo trying to call out Alice's name as softly as possible to keep his "Chords of steel" under control yet, despite the effort, Alice still wouldn't come out of hiding. This was really unsettling but the two boys refused to give up their search and it was a good thing they didn't as they began to pass a cardboard box (that didn't exactly look special) tucked up against the building but from the inside the smallest sounds were heard.

Confused, Apollo and Clay stopped with wide eyes to see if they were imagining those noises. They didn't know what they had heard nor where it came from yet they had a good idea where those sounds originate from. The two young boys heard the sounds again: the tiniest of precious squeaks, and while their eyes were still wide they sealed their lips tight to try and not to frighten away whatever the creature making those noises was.

The squeaks were kind of sweet and soft but it also sounded a little whiny, kind of like a newborn infant needing attention or something.

Apollo and Clay both looked at each other but didn't say a word as both their startled facial expressions matched the others and they slowly began to make their way towards the cardboard box and when they peered within...

"Alice?!" Apollo gasped in total shock as he blinked his eyes to see if his mind was tricking him by making him hallucinate from the hot summers day sun.

Alice was curled up inside the box with some incredibly tiny creatures nursing from her as the tabby was laying on her side to allow the teeny-weeny furry beings to drink up. Her tail flicked as she gave a look of surprise at seeing Apollo there towering her but her green-yellow eyes remained soft and attentive all the same.

Apollo and Clay quietly leaned forwards to get a better look at the tiny balls of fur nestled against Alice and they quickly discerned that these were most likely Alice's babies. Apollo could have sworn that he felt tears swell up in his eyes as he gazed down lovingly at this heart-warming little scene.

Apollo lowered a hand to rub at the tabby and she gladly accepted the touch from her friend as she let out affectionate purrs of endearment. While Apollo was doing this, Clay watched this scene with a warm smile of his own. He could hardly believe that Apollo didn't know that Alice was pregnant even though he just met the tabby.

"Well..." Apollo giggled "I guess this explains that pudgy stomach of your's, girl!" His voice had toned down a bit so he would not startle the feeding kittens and especially not enrage Alice who seemed tired from the whole process "And here I thought I was feeding you too much."

Clay smirked down at the small furry family and begun to count the tiny kittens yet he was careful not to raise his voice in any shape or form as he carefully examined the newborn bundles. There were three tabbies, a Persian, a Calico and a single tabby with silky fur whiter than snow. The tiny white newborn seemed to be the runt of the litter while the Persian was the biggest of the litter. That made a total count of six kittens that Alice had to care for.

Alice purred softly as she lovingly rubbed the top of her head against the back of Apollo's hand as if to return his strokes. Actually, when her soft eyes laid upon the boy next to Apollo she seemingly stiffened a little as her eyes enlarged yet a small growl rubbed against her throat. Apollo noticed that tenseness the new mother was feeling and he looked at Clay before looking back at her and reassuring her with a confident grin "Oh don't worry Alice, Clay's a good friend of mine. He won't bite." He jokingly raised a brow and grinned a grin that was sharper than a swords blade "...Do you?"

Clay felt surprised. He would never hurt a cat like that even though he knew that Apollo was joking and he just furrowed his brows and gave a look that said 'really?' and he frowned almost blankly "Nope, I don't eat cats."

Alice seemed to relax upon hearing this but she curled up around her kittens as if to warm them up from the sudden cold draft that blew in around the area and Apollo had noticed a major problem right away and he asked Clay "Hey, Clay, mind if you stay here with Alice and her kits while I go upstairs to grab something?"

Apollo's voice carried some urgency within it and he appeared to be a little worried about whatever it was he needed to get. Clay just could not turn down a friend in need and besides, Apollo had already done more than his fair share of acts of selflessness. The plaster-nosed boy nodded and watched as Apollo gave a smile of gratitude before making a quick run inside as he intended to make this as fair on Clay as possible.

Clay sat in front of the box as he stroked Alice softly, whispering soft endearments to her about how much Apollo loved her and wouldn't replace her for anyone. The future astronaut felt sort of awkward since he wasn't really a pet kind of person but he was willing to do anything to repay his debt to Apollo for being so kind and generous to him. He felt his back softly lean against the cardboard but he was very careful to make it so Alice and her new family wouldn't be crushed by him leaning too heavily against the cats safe haven.

"So, Alice, are you enjoying motherhood?" Honestly Clay felt kind of sad asking this as it reminded him of his own mother but he realized that he would snap into the past again if he lingered on the sad memory for too long. He just needed to strike up some sort of conversation as he petted the soft fur atop of the young adult tabby's head. He could tell that Apollo took awfully good care despite that she had been kept secret for awhile.

Alice simply pressed her chin down against the rough cardboard in front of her in response yet she continued to shield her tiny kittens from the cold and they even mewled loudly in protest even though Clay knew that he would have been the same at that age if he was told to take a nap. He could see how Apollo would need to grab something because Alice and her kittens were not the only ones feeling the cold right now. Everyone on the playground had stopped playing and started shivering like a leaf. It was clearer than day that the weather was shifting as the sun vanished behind some dark clouds.

Alice appeared to have had the exact same suspicion of the weather changing and looked up too with wise eyes. Her tail flicked in reaction of the sudden temperature change and she pulled her tiny kittens even closer for warmth and protection.

Clay was very confused by the change of atmosphere and even tipped the rim of his pilots hat to her before looking back towards the door as he heard the sound of running footsteps approaching and this made him turn his head towards it and was sort of relieved when he saw Apollo, donning a hood and cloak to keep himself dry from the probable rain that was about to fall and he held a fuzzy towel in one arm and a matching robe bundled in the other.

Apollo stopped as he rushed by Clay's side and handed him the cloak and hood that matched his own and it complimented the black of the onesies the orphans were wearing before he got to work on preparing the towel for its supposed purpose. He folded it outwards and flapped it up and down to make it as soft and cozy as possible. He watched out of the corner of his eye as Clay got to work on putting on his cloak much like Apollo had. They both eventually got to work on making the bedding as comfortable as possible and when they were done, the two boys were very satisfied with their work as they kept the box under a better shelter so Alice could safely nurse her beautiful frail offspring.

"C'mon, Clay, lets get back inside!" Apollo smiled warmly to which Clay concurred with a single nod and they both went to go inside but Apollo spent one last look at Alice who returned the happy look as she beamed towards him, even though she was a cat. Apollo gave a small nod her way before running back inside before the rain fell quite badly.

* * *

Apollo groaned heavily as he tossed and turned in his bed. This horrible thunder storm was awful and it had been keeping the boy awake even though it was just after midnight. That and there was another reason why he was having a horrible case of insomnia: He felt an air of impending doom.

Apollo stared up at the empty ceiling as his arms gripped on to the blankets covering his body and he could only think about how Alice and the kittens were doing out there in that storm, he felt guilty leaving her and her brood out there all alone and it actually broke his heart into little pieces. Why did he feel so sad and worried about his furry friend being out there during this thunderstorm? How could he leave her out there alone? Apollo felt this nagging guilt torment the back of his mind as he wanted nothing more than to go outside and see whats happening to poor Alice and her newborn kittens.

It was at that moment that lightning crashed through the skies and left a momentary flash of light followed by a horrific bang and rumble exploding from the world outside but as he tried to get over the shock of that sudden flash, he heard yet another sound but this was unlike any other sound he had heard in his whole life. It sounded like the screeching of some tires and then followed by a huge slam into something hard but he also heard a very inhuman screech of agony.

This was what made Apollo bolt up from his laying down position and he didn't even know what he was doing as he leapt out of bed and gathered the natural things needed like blankets and something to keep himself dry if he were going out alone. He could no longer tolerate leaving his first friend ever out there in that storm! He flicked on the light in the bathroom before he done this and was about to run out of the room when he heard a hoarse, tired croak of a voice ask him "...Apollo?"

Apollo stopped dead in his tracks as he looked at the source of that voice and found none other than Clay standing there while clutching a teddy bear close to his side. The bags under his eyes were notable but Clay looked very concerned about his friend since he noticed how pale young Apollo really looked despite the darkness lingering throughout the room. Clay saw the desperation in Apollo's usually hot-headed and determined eyes and didn't really have to ask about what this was all about.

Seeing all the items Apollo carried prompted Clay to remove the cloak he wore earlier from its heap on the teal carpeting beneath their feet and proceeded to making it so it stayed on and so he wouldn't really get soaked to the bone whilst out there. Clay also grabbed a torch from near the bedside table and flicked it on and off to test if the batteries had run dry but luckily that wasn't the case.

The light flashed keenly before Clay turned it off before they both shot like bullets down the stairs yet they were both trying to keep their thundering as quiet as possible so they couldn't draw any attention to themselves. They were so desperate to get outside and check on Alice that they didn't count on the rain being so heavy that it would be an almost easy feat to sweep the two little boys off the ground and the hammering rain made it almost impossible to hear anything else as they covered their heads yet they both ran separate directions, Apollo running towards the box and Clay running to investigate the crash they heard a minute or so ago.

Apollo tried to ignore the heavy rainfall numb his body and pushed through the horrid downpour as he was way more worried about Alice and her young family. He squinted his eyes from the fact that wind was blowing in his face even through he shielded his forehead from the rain despite the hood covering it. He willed his legs to move and every time he approached the box he was so desperate to look at and examine Alice and her kittens yet it pushed even harder the closer he got.

The young lawyer to be grunted as he pushed through the strong wind current and even screwed his eyes shut and gritted his teeth in effort. He wasn't about to give up now! He needed to have some perseverance! He pushed even harder to get to the box and with some remarkable strength, Apollo had made it and peered inside but what he saw made him wish he didn't.

Laying there on top of the blankets was the kittens without their mother yet they were lifeless and not breathing. They just laid there on their side with no signs of life from any of them, making the truth of what was going on smack Apollo in the face as he gasped but he couldn't hold back the tears that leaked from his eyes and he had to turn away to prevent himself from being sick. He never thought to find the worst possible scenario and the mere thought of seeing those poor things so cold and dead to the world hurt him more than anything since Alice would be so upset.

But then something gentle caught his attention and Apollo looked back into the box and he saw something that made him gasp again but this time there was a form of relief in there as he saw a tiny bit of movement from the tiny white tabby cat. Apollo watched as the blind and helpless creature pawed its way out of the huddle of its deceased siblings and gave loud mews of fear and this made Apollo grab one of the towels he had brought and he was very careful to pick up the little thing in the fuzzy white cloth and made sure that it was nestled safely. Its tiny white head poked out from the blankets and its loud cries dulled into soft purrs that warmed his heart.

It was then that Apollo heard a shriek be carried by the wind "APOLLO! COME QUICKLY!"

Apollo knew all too well that those yells came from Clay's equally good pair of lungs and didn't hesitate on picking himself off the ground and cradled the bundled kitten in the towel as he wrapped the fuzzy material in his arms protectively. He quickly ran towards Clay who stood there while holding the torch in his grip to see through the darkness other than the street lights that stood by the road that illuminated through the pitch black night so Apollo could see where to go yet there was also a red tint on the ground and reflecting off of Clay's form so the two boys met each other. While Apollo had turned five different shades of pale, Clay had gone quite pale himself.

They both could hardly believe what was happening. It was Clay who spoke first yet he was sort of yelling it in a soft demeanor so the rain wouldn't block out any words "The kittens...Are they?"

Apollo gave his best friend a tearful look and hung his head low to let Clay know that there was only one survivor yet he held that one kitten that was still here tightly as if it were the only thing that could save them from this horrifying evening but little did Apollo know was that this evening was about to go from really sad to devastating. He asked in a similar way as his eyes were full of plea "What about Alice, any sign of her?"

Clay hung his head lowly like Apollo had done. He couldn't tell Apollo since it would crack him like the softest of eggshells. But Clay knew that Apollo had the right to know what had happened to her. Apollo gave his friend a desperate look as he frowned, knowing exactly what this unnerving silence could mean. He shuddered and quaked while saying with his voice quivering "...No...Alice has to be alive, she has a remaining k-kitten to look after!" Upon mentioning the tiny ball of white fluff, the kitten mewed sadly to which Apollo responded by rocking the bundle from side to side and hushing it gently.

Apollo's attention was brought back to Clay upon discovering that he had moved aside to show Apollo the horrible truth, a lingering sorrow deep within his eyes. He didn't wish for his new friend to see this but he needed to see her one last time, otherwise he would blame himself even more for what had happened. When Clay had moved the road had become even clearer and so did the mystery of the screeching tires and pained squealing.

There were two cars on the scene. One of them was a sports car that had its hood ram into a tree, indicating that it had swerved for some reason, yet there was a police car there as well as an ambulance. But what was under the tire in front of that broken car had made Apollo's heart skip a beat as his eyes were fixated on the all too familiar form laying there with her bandanna in tatters and rips as it was still wrapped around her furry neck.

"...N-No! ALICE!" Apollo screamed out as he ran forwards to rush to her side but Clay pulled him back in an effort to prevent him from doing something foolish. Apollo fell to his knees and sobbed and cried as grief and remorse crushed him on the inside yet he still hold on to the tiny kitten left behind, the last of Alice's lineage even though this sweet thing was apart of her very first litter.

"Its all _MY _fault she's..." He couldn't finish that sentence as his heart shattered into thousands of little pieces and he sobbed "I should have brought her and the other kittens inside! Why didn't I save Alice!? WHY!?" He wailed whilst burying his tear-stained face in Clay's chest and he was sure that he was soaking his friend even further if possible.

Clay also dropped to his knees and held on tight to Apollo, knowing the pain he felt once his mother had died.

It was a painful, mind-destroying thing that could gradually crush you from the inside. Despair was a monster that would always haunt you about horrible mistakes and would always be ready to strike a painful blow to your sane mind.

Clay wrapped his arms around Apollo, the red light from the police car illuminating the both of their forms in a red light and the three stayed in that sweet embrace and even the tiny kitten nestled in between the two boys for warmth, knowing that its mother would no longer be able to provide for her. The two orphans just kneed the floor as they all cried for their fallen friend...

* * *

**A/N: Awww, poor Apollo. He had just lost Alice and now he thinks that its all his fault. I know that this is a sad chapter but I hope that this was alright. The next chapter should be more happier, though, and hopefully we'll see more of that little surviving kitten in the next chapter. What will happen next? Can Apollo recover from his feline friend's death? Will Clay be able to help him through this tough ordeal? **

**Find out!**

**-Chloemcg**


	7. Hardships of losing a loved one

**Disclaimer: I would never own the characters of Phoenix Wright since they belong to Capcom, I may have some original characters as the chapters go on but any characters that don't belong to me are made from Capcom and their respective owners.**

**Origins of Justice.**

* * *

Apollo sat on the edge of the bed as he stared longingly out the window, watching the rain beat the glass window with a very intense focus. He could feel the bags beneath his eyes drag his eyeballs open so that they were close to actually bulging out of his skull.

He had a very distant look in his usually cheerful eyes as he curled up into a ball and sitting on the bed, he was too depressed about Alice to think of anything other than her. Was this how Clay felt about his mother passing away in that accident? He didn't want to move and he didn't want to do anything.

Apollo wouldn't even come down for anything to snack on, even though he must be starved, and this was very concerning.

Why was he on a hunger strike?! Why was he so lethargic and distant. His kind heart had been hardened like the toughest of titanium so he would force himself not to remorse even more on Alice since at least both Clay and himself still had a part of her in the very room they kept to themselves in.

Apollo and Clay quickly discovered that the white tabby kitten was a male and actually named him Ash, in honor of the comforting fact that even though their dreams may have gone down in flames that this little kitten was the only survivor.

Ash was currently bundled in the towel as Clay was delicately scrubbing some dirt off him yet he was being as careful as possible to keep his distance as to give his friend some space. He just sat on the edge of his bed but he seemed very distracted as the fact that Apollo -the one who is always cheerful- was just downright depressed because of the fact that poor Alice had been made into roadkill and to make matters worse, all but one of her precious kittens didn't make it. It was just a sad time for Apollo right now.

The young black-haired boy frowned sadly in worry. Apollo _never _acted like this! It was very hard to comprehend, that much was true, but poor Apollo needed help urgently since he was seriously hurting within as he didn't even blink while staring out the window with his back always turned on Clay and little Ash, not even saying a single word that would finally break this depressing silence yet the only sounds coming from Apollo would be the occasional soft sigh. The want- to-be Ace attorney never felt this sad about anything in his whole life.

Clay looked down at Ash who gave a tiny squeak of exhaustion. Sighing lowly, Clay settled Ash in a small shoe box that contained a fuzzy flannel to make sure he would be kept warm and to ensure his survival. Apollo couldn't take losing the last thing of Alice left since he would probably have a nervous break down. The young boy sporting the hat tucked the towel around the tiny kitten and, just like that, the minuscule creature gave into the slumber he needed.

The sight was sweet but it turned sour when Clay focused back on Apollo. There was no sign of life nor movement coming from the traumatized boy with the uniquely styled hair as he just stared out the window and on to a brick wall of the neighboring building next to the Rock Hard Orphanage. The way it was stared at for so long must have at least burned holes into the bricks.

'_Poor Apollo...' _Clay thought as empathy sunk lowly into the pit of his stomach '_he's suffering so much and theres nothing to pull him out of it...Or is there?' _It would be needless to say that Clay could sense the distraught pouring into Apollo's grief-stricken heart. There had to be something, he though, as he tried to think of something! Then it came to him.

"...Hey, Apollo?" Clay called out softly but got no response from Apollo.

Clay wasn't going to allow this wallowing to continue if it would be enough to make everything that boy worked so hard to believe in crumble down like dried up apple pie that was very crispy. Poor Apollo needed something to uplift his spirits! He sat beside Apollo and suddenly yelled "You're fine Apollo!"

Apollo finally turned his head to look at Clay but his eyes were dull and lifeless as if everything good in those normally eccentric brown pools had been sucked dry and Apollo shifted in the bed slowly as to finally face his friend completely although his facial features had dropped completely to reveal the face of a broken-hearted little boy who had just gone through the worst after his feline friend had just been killed in a hit and run accident.

"..." Apollo hesitated on speaking but closed his eyes shamefully and hung his head low "...No, I'm _not _fine, Clay..." He sobbed as his body began to shake from the heavy weeping that had suddenly betrayed his feelings and he began to cry with his heart shattering like teeny fragments of fragile glass. He needed comfort, he needed warmth, he needed someone to be there for him! Why did this have to happen to his very first best friend?! Apollo cried huge rivulets of tears that meandered sleekly down his cheeks and dripped down on the cushy blankets he sat on.

He felt Clay's arms wrap comfortingly around him and his friend's voice whispering "Its okay" and "Its not your fault" over and over again as he stroked his back up and down as if that would help him. Clay recalled his mother doing this when he was sad or feeling alone and he knew that Apollo never knew his mother so this might probably help his heart heal at the very least a little bit.

Clay continued to rub soothing circles on his friend's back as he allowed the boy with the brown, spiky hair to cling on to him for support even if it meant soaking his black onesie with snot and salty tears. A good cry could make you feel a lot better once you get it out of your system.

After staying like that for a few minutes, Apollo pulled away from the kindly hold of Clay and managed the smallest of heartfelt grins yet his eyes were still red and puffy from all the crying he had done. Apollo wrapped a brotherly arm around Clay's shoulder to try and make himself feel better and a little life had returned to those boisterously playful eyes as he wiped a sleeve over his eyes to soak up the tears he had been crying since the early hours of this very morning.

Clay patted Apollo gently on the head to wordlessly assure him of the fact that everything was going to be fine. The fact couldn't be any more transparent that life was totally unfair but if someone had gone through something as horrible as the death of a loved one but there would always be someone there to pick you right back up if you had sunk to the lowest abyss of despair.

A challenging gleam swam in Clay's dark blue eyes as he asked in a soft, encouraging voice even though his smirk was sharper than the razor sharp blade of a sword "Now then..." Clay poked Apollo in the underarm which he feverishly squirmed away from to escape from the delightful torture "Who are you and what are you feeling?!"

Apollo laughed and laughed as Clay had just discovered a ticklish spot and because of his uncontrollable fits of laughter "N-No stop!" He gasped in between laughing fits yet he continued to try and elude his friend's violent tickling despite the constant poking of his underarm. Apollo even had his arm pressed heavily against his side to try and prevent the tickling but Clay was very relentless when it came to this new discovery about the horn-haired boy.

Apollo had helped him and now it was Clay's turn to return the favor!

"Tell me now or else suffer at my endless tickling sessions, Polly parrot!" Clay playfully snapped through a devilish grin and a very mischievous glint shining in his eyes. He had always thought the nickname of 'Polly parrot' was especially cool for Apollo's title since he loved red, has a name that is too tempting not to give it that type of nickname and his hair was shaped like a chickens comb. That was all the more reason not to name him after a bird as a teasing nickname!

Apollo continued to try and break away from Clay's tickling assault but, sadly for him, Clay was very persistent and wouldn't give in so easily. The young astronaut-would be grinned evilly as he asked once more, pinning Apollo down on the bed to prevent him from escaping the ticklish session that had been running. Apollo chuckled with tears of laughter welling up in his eyes yet he decided to surrender to keep himself from laughing too hard that he'd crack a rib.

"Okay...Okay..." Apollo breathed tiredly "My name is Apollo Justice and..." He sucked in a huge breath before yelling as loudly as he could "I'M FIIIINNEE!"

The two boys could have sworn that Apollo's scream was so loud that it shattered a few windows outside and it even left a slight crack on their bedroom window, shocking them into silence.

The two boys glanced at each other with wide eyes and small frowns, unsure of how to react to the sudden fact that they would probably have to pay for property damages. However they both burst out laughing when they allowed the sudden realization sink in like a rock dropped into water and neither of them could stifle their unwinding convulsion of guffawing, they were already rolling across the carpets as they held both of their stomachs from how much they were probably going to die laughing.

Neither of them felt as happy as they did now! It was like that everything was right in the world and nothing could destroy that peace even though there were loved ones that would be missed so much. Alice would still be missed but so would Clay's mother, both of them would have wanted them both to move on with their lives and that was what they were going to do!

Besides they also had some responsibility now that needed someone to take care of him...

Speaking of which; Apollo and Clay's ears latched on to some upset mewls and whiny meows as if the being that those cries originated from was hungry. Ash may have been the smallest of the late Alice's litter but the little white tabby was most definitely a fighter who deserved every chance possible in life and both boys knew that they needed to be the ones who provided that teeny little bundle of fur the care he so desperately...Even though that somehow Clay and Apollo had smuggled Ash into the room right under everyone's noses.

Clay sent a wry grin to Apollo and raised a brow at him.

The two boys took turns in mouth feeding Ash by syringe throughout the day to keep the tiny frail thing dehydrated and healthy and now it was the latter's turn to look after the newly orphaned kitten.

"I've got him..." Apollo smiled as he stood up to approach the box so he could calm the fussy kitten down and Clay just sat there and watched as his friend wandered over towards the shoebox and knelt down in front of it so he could peak inside.

Neither Clay nor Apollo knew what other trials laid ahead but they knew that from here on out that they needed to be on their best guard.

Who knew what other trials would face them?

* * *

**A/N: At least this picked both Apollo and Clay up. Now they are both ready to face more than emotional scars and hopefully there will be no more sad moments but lets see where this goes. Its good to know that Clay is a good friend to Apollo when he needs his help. It would appear that they are each the things that are needed to heal both of their hearts. I can't wait to continue on with this and I wish you all a nice day! Thank you!**

**-Chloemcg**


	8. Apollo's birthday surprise part one

**Disclaimer: I would never own the characters of Phoenix Wright since they belong to Capcom, I may have some original characters as the chapters go on but any characters that don't belong to me are made from Capcom and their respective owners.**

**Origins of Justice.**

* * *

The skies were bright and the sun was shining so brightly that it would be considered a lens flare to any cinematographers if there were any.

Young Clay proudly walked down the sidewalk with a cheerful smile on his face, joy radiating from his very being as he clutched something tightly in his fist.

About two weeks had passed since the death of Alice and Clay's introduction with Apollo and the day came to it being the latters tenth birthday (or at least on the day he had been discovered by the orphanage staff members outside on the doorstep) and Clay just knew that he needed to get his best friend something to make his tenth birthday extra special.

What could Apollo want, exactly?

He had heard that Apollo usually didn't have the greatest of birthdays ever since everyone just disregarded it and treated it like every other day and there wasn't even any presents or cake! What was wrong with that orphanage!? Apollo was so cheery and upbeat that he deserved the best gift that money could buy.

As a matter of fact, Clay had been saving his money up for this special birthday present! He knew all about the fact that Apollo wanted to be a lawyer when he got older, in fact Phoenix Wright had squeezed him out of a tight spot when all seemed dark and hopeless in his world. Clay thought that if he could strengthen that desire of Apollo's then it would perk the spiky-fringed birthday boy right up!

Apollo needed to see Phoenix again!

...He just hoped that Apollo would like his gift, though.

Clay had helped managed to help Apollo get over the death of his furry friend: Alice, and they just focused on getting through these trials together. They were now looking after Alice's youngest and only surviving kitten who've they had dubbed Ash and they actually find out something that should have not really been a big shock: Ash was both blind and death.

It was sort of common knowledge that kittens born with white fur to become death and blind even though the reasons are unknown.

The want-to-be-astronaut walked boldly down towards the orphanage with the biggest of smiles pulled at the corners of his mouth as his dark blue eyes swam with this glistening pride but he needed to find a good place to hide his ticket.

Clay had to hide it before Apollo immediately caught on.

He stuffed in in one of the pockets of the orphanage signature black onesie before he casually strolled towards the building that was just beyond the gate of entrance and every footstep he had made clicked against the concrete grounds beneath the soles of his trainers and this sort of announced his return...to nobody but the orphanage itself.

It would usually seem like its only the building itself paying attention since nobody else (adult-wise) even noticed him and it was kind of annoying. He didn't mind, though. Apollo just was probably spending some of his tenth birthday upstairs with the younger children with their young kitten, Ash.

Apollo had grown quite accustomed to reading the babies and toddlers at the orphanage stories and even making his own up quite regularly. He usually invited Clay along with him to help build up his confidence, but Clay had to tell his best friend that Mrs. Blunt had sent him on an errand or something like that since he couldn't have Apollo catch on to what he was doing, even though Apollo was very sensitive to lying.

Clay noticed the way when his friend's bracelet visibly tightens around his wrights and this making him rub it tenderly but decided not to question it until later since he didn't really want his best friend to be upset on his birthday.

Clay knocked on the door and waited for someone to answer it. But while he had a lot to think about, his main thoughts were about weather Apollo would like his big birthday gift since he did work sort of hard getting a ticket to see a Phoenix Wright trial. He had heard all about how Apollo's life-changing encounter with Phoenix Wright and the way Apollo kept on rambling on and on about that day made Clay want to meet the guy himself even though he was more interested in becoming an adventurer of space.

What will this gift bring Apollo?

A gift of joy? Some inspiration to keep pursuing his dream?

He just hoped that this would do some good...

* * *

Apollo laughed aloud as he sat cross-legged on the floor with a book sat against his lap yet the small two week old kitten, Ash, was pouncing on his masters shoulders with a keen spring in his paws as his furry tail swished excitedly in the air. The young boy grinned as he glanced teasingly over at the blind and death kitten who was just a bundle of energy.

Ash's blindness had been discovered when he had first opened his teeny eyes and it was discovered that his pupils were clouded over to prevent his sight from ever succeeding passed into actually watching anything. It was also found out that he was very hard of hearing since whenever Apollo or Clay tried calling him over, Ash wouldn't hear them and continue his waddling and stumbling.

Apollo was a little sad upon realizing this since the poor cat wouldn't have much of a life but both himself and Clay were determined on making Ash's life as worth living as possible and give him the best of chances. That kitten deserved at least that much!

"Okay, guys..." Apollo mumbled more to himself then the very young audience sitting right in front of him on the floor "Where were we?"

The young audience members just stared at Apollo with blank looks.

The ten year old boy with the double-spiky fringe grinned widely as he tried to shrug his shoulders to rock Ash a little and this appeared to have amused the young kitten even though his claws were protracted so he could keep himself balanced on one of his master's shoulders.

Apollo sighed almost dreamily as he continued to read to the young children sitting in his wake yet he sat by the light of a lampshade and this light was what created the most soothing of atmospheres and it also provided a sweet motherly vibe in the air, reflecting that kind of feeling in the air that highly resembled a mother putting her children to bed.

He actually wondered if his biological mother had done this for him when he was little? Did she even care about him...?

He could never be sure why his mother had done this since he could vaguely recall that it was his mother alone who had left him alone on a cold evening. The memories were very fuzzy and vague but they were still there, none the less.

Apollo shook his head a little to snap himself out of this daze and he had found that he had broke off into an uncomprehending rope of random words and was no longer reading the words of the simple children's book he had been reading for the passed few minutes. He was reading nothing from the book but things that had first come to mind but thankfully this rather boring session of listening to him spout random words had done its trick regardless as he looked up to find that all the young children had fallen to sleep in a heap on the floor.

'_...Wow, I must either had bored them senseless or I am just good with kids.' _He thought.

Justice slowly climbed to his feet and went to retrieve the blankets from the beds with Ash still balancing on his shoulders with his claws tightly gripping the rather decent material of the soft black onesie with the kitten's unseeing eyes looking surprised by the sudden movement. Apollo's smirk had been replaced with a softer smile towards the small bundle of white fur, recalling Alice from a few weeks ago. Ash resembled his mother so much that sometimes Apollo couldn't help but sometimes mistake him for Alice despite that Ash was just a kitten, had white fur and had blank, blind eyes.

Apollo didn't take too long in fetching all the blankets and draping them over the pile of sleeping toddlers and infants. He would have carried them each to bed himself but he didn't want to wake them up and feel bad about it for the rest of his day, the occasion being very special and all...

He watched over the little ones with a small frown now, something sudden flashing through his mind.

Why did the bracelet act so strangely that one time when that bully, Wocky, had lied through his teeth? Why did Phoenix act so shady and ominous afterwards?

Apollo reluctantly lifted his sleeve to reveal the bracelet glistening as the gentle ember glow of the lamp shaded against the smooth gold band that gave off a sweet twinkling in the soft lights in the evening. Ever since Mr. Wright's visit all those years ago, Apollo had been feeling his bracelet tighten sharply around his wrist and he also had these strange episodes after someone says something that could be a lie.

It stumped Apollo to why his bracelet would react to these fibs or such. He couldn't even wrap his brain around it, he needed to do some research some special relics.

Maybe he should do that later on in the day...?

"Hey Apollo!" A very familiar voice said to which Apollo turned his head in the direction of the voice's origin even though he brought a finger to his lips in a silent gesture to keep his voice down. Clay stood by the door even though he brought a hand to his mouth to prevent himself from saying anything so loud that it would make those little children awake even though Apollo had worked hard to lull them to sleep even by means of them sleeping on the floor.

They hold their breaths for a moment, worried that they would suddenly have crying infants on their hands, but breathed a sigh of relief when no such thing occurred.

"...So are ya ready to go, Birthday boy?" Clay asked in a soft whisper yet he was clearly trying his hardest not to explode from excitement.

Apollo tilted his head to one side, his brows furrowing in confusion. Where were they going? He didn't remember the orphanage planning an outing and the orphanage didn't exactly treat him to an outing on his birthday -let alone anything else children should have on the days of their birth! This was truly confusing but the boy decided to go along with it as he reached to the back of his neck where Ash had been clinging on to and carried the blind, white tabby kitten in his arms.

"Errr..." Apollo smiled somewhat nervously "Where are we going?"

He watched as Clay said nothing but he did grab a handful of Apollo's sleeve and began the quick process of dragging his friend along behind him, leaving poor Apollo stupefied as he clung on tightly to Ash so he wouldn't fall out of his protective hold.

_'Where in the hello are we going!?...' _He thought.

Apollo couldn't help but be totally lost but somewhat excited at the same time.

* * *

**A/N: Hi, guys! Sorry about the short chapter but I just wanted to update before I become busy since I will be a bit busy and unable to write stories a bit less than before. But I'll try and update whenever I can with the other stories. **

**Anyways, Clay seems to be taking Apollo to a trial and which trial will that be? It will be one which involves Phoenix, that much is certain! Clay is such a good friend to Apollo but the orphanage isn't as nice to him. **

**Lets see what happens next! **

**-Chloemcg**


	9. Apollo's birthday surprise part two

**Disclaimer: I would never own the characters of Phoenix Wright since they belong to Capcom, I may have some original characters as the chapters go on but any characters that don't belong to me are made from Capcom and their respective owners.**

**Origins of Justice.**

* * *

Apollo and Clay, as well as Ash, all walked down the road together. Their onesies marked them as orphans and this made the adults blatantly ignore them, not that they weren't used to this already.

The sunshine beated down on their backs, shining against the black lonesome material and they both walked in silence with huge grins on their mugs and a glimmer of excitement within their eyes. Apollo was the most excited since he wanted to know what his birthday surprise was even though it was dubbed "a surprise" for a reason. Clay stood his ground and resisted the urge to spill the beans at his friend's constant badgering and begging.

Apollo raised a curious brow towards Clay as he asked "Clay, how on earth did you get permission to get out without an adult?"

Clay laughed, his head held high, as he patted the pocket in his onesie withholding the court trial ticket as he responded to the question with one eye open "Apparently orphans of the Rock hard orphanage can go out anywhere they would like when you're ten years or older."

Apollo's brows raised. He had lived in the orphanage all his life but he never knew this rule himself. How did the new boy know this while he didn't? However Clay seemed to have read his friend's puzzled expression like a book and tipped the rim of his black pilots cap over his eyes to shield the humor reflecting in his deep blue orbs "I overheard Mrs. Blunt speaking of it with a couple of staff members in a briefing."

Apollo rolled his eyes with a smirk on his lips, wrapping one arm around Ash to secure him in his hold. He should have known that his friend would know more then he would himself since Clay was a clever young lad just like himself. They both aspired to be just like their heroes when they got older, never allowing their precious dreams to collapse on themselves but there was something on occasion that would sometimes obstruct the way like some blockages in a river but once those trials were overcome, it was simple to walk on and allow the river to once again flow freely.

The duo never felt so carefree in all their lives as their feet pounded on the ground beneath them.

"Heh, I should've known that you'd know more than me..." Apollo chuckled warmly.

Clay chuckled too. He found his friend to be very amusing when the time called for it. They both had quite a bit in comman since they had both lost everything but also regained everything and as they no longer had their mothers to guide them, they had each other and would always have their backs. As a matter of fact, Apollo began to see Clay as a brother more than anything.

The two boys were snapped from their thoughts as a soft mewl caught their attention and brought their eyes to the aimlessly loitering kitten walking alongside them, the small white ball of fur prancing about as he wandered towards a small hotdog stand and if this wasn't an indication of hunger than neither Apollo or Clay knew what was.

Apollo bent down and scooped up the blind kitten and stroked his silky white fur, hoping to soothe Ash's whining mews of hunger. He knew that Ash could wander helplessly on to the road if he wasn't careful but luckily Ash had two boys who had their eyes sharpened to keep a very close watch on their little friend. He also had a very big appetite that could rival anyone who had the stomach the size of at least two submarine.

"Shhh...Its okay, Ash." Apollo shushed the kitten while wrapping his arms around his little body, securing him. He even cradled the little form of life close to his chest, gazing down at the fur ball in his arms. He felt Ash sink into his arms and comfortably curl up in his embrace. Apollo looked towards Clay helplessly but a small smile was still pasted on his lips as he shrugged his shoulders.

Clay read his friend's expression "We'll get Ash a bite to eat when we get back to the orphanage."

Apollo lowered his brows suspiciously. Clay was refusing to let him on this present and it was beginning to grate on his nerves even though he was excited at the same time. Justice sighed a surrendering sigh, he couldn't guess what this gift was even when thinking about it deeply. He didn't say a word and neither did Clay until he noticed something glistening under the sleeve on his friend's right arm out of the corner of his eye.

Clay turned his head, intrigued. What was that sparkle just now? He decided to ask before he forgot about it "Apollo?"

"Hmm?" Apollo turned his head to look at his friend.

Clay dipped a confused brow down towards Apollo's arm "Whats that cuffing you're arm, hiding under you're sleeve?"

Apollo felt his heart skip a beat and he froze in place, stopping dead in his tracks. He could tell that his mouth was open a little and that his eyes were wide and were staring off to space. He didn't really like bringing up the subject but then again...it was his birthday and Clay had told him about the item that his mother gave him; his hat, so it was only fair.

Apollo shifted Ash in his grasp into one arm and reluctantly removed his sleeve to reveal his bracelet in broad daylight. Clay peered in closer to look at the object in question and gasped lowly in awe. He never saw such a strange bracelet such as this! It actually raised several queries in his head but he asked the simplist one as to not bombard poor Apollo with questions that may upset him "...Is that yours?"

Justice nodded his head once.

"Yes," He gazed down longingly at his bracelet "When I was a baby, my mother left me with this bracelet. I think this thing is made of some special stuff since it grows right along with me." He frowned the saddest frown one could dare muster "I can barely remember her face but I can remember..." He paused when something came up at the top of his mind. A melody of some sorts...

He remembered her sweet, soothing voice as she sung something that made his mind momentarily flash back to her sweet face. He could vaguely remember his mother's golden-brown locks of hair, that soothing scent belonging to her, her beautiful pristine eyes. It burned into his mind like a phoenix soaring through the air with its wings sharp enough to cut through the tallest of trees. He blinked when a sudden flash interrupted his momentary memory. It was like lightning but at the same time it felt like a sharp sting to his ocular structures.

He never even got to finish his sentence!

Apollo growled from deep within his throat while he stumbled backwards a little but he was shielding his eyes with one arm. His other arm still held on to Ash but it made little difference for the pain whip-lashing his vision like that. Clay rushed towards his friend and placed a worried hand upon his shoulder "Pollo, are you feeling okay?"

The boy blinked multiple times to get his vision to readjust to his surroundings but nodded when that had happened. What had just happened to him? Why did his eyes sting like that and why did he suddenly have that flashback? It bothered him to say the least! Apollo sighed whence he recovered from that sudden shock "Yeah...I'm fine, considering..."

Clay just stared at Apollo for a moment, unsure what to think. That was a little strange as behavior goes. He decided to leave the matter be for now and he exclaimed in an attempt to change the subject "So lets get going, shall we?"

Apollo nodded again and followed Clay however Ash had fallen asleep in his arms. The trio walked along the path whilst ignoring the adults questioning them being there by themselves and it took awhile before the two boys and kitten had found themselves nearing their destination. Clay smirked excitedly at the imaginings of Apollo's face when they reached the Courthouse. Would his face hold surprise? He hoped so...

The orphans merrily walked down the path until they reached a huge building of grand design. There was the symbol of justice emblem worn on the very top of the building and there were huge pillars holding up the place and it looked sort of like a museum to a pair of little boys. Apollo of course recognized this building the instant he saw it and his jaw dropped open. The pieces clicked together in his mind and he finally came to terms with the reality.

"Oh my goodness, you got us a place in a PHOENIX WRIGHT court trial!?" Apollo squeaked and bounced in excitement. He wore a really silly smile on his face but it was adorable to say the least. Clay gave him a dull look "No, Apollo, we were going to the petting zoo that looked like the court house Phoenix Wright goes to..."

This was rewarded with a crestfallen look from the young boy with horn-like hair. He clearly was buying the silly act but Clay rectified it by pulling the birthday boy into a head-lock and playing with his head boisterously and he smirked "Oh, of COURSE I was taking ya to see Phoenix Wright's trial! Happy birthday, Apollo!"

Apollo laughed as he tried to squirm away from the delightful form of torture. He was lucky to have such a caring friend to watch his back! He wiggled and managed to eventually to break out of the rough arm contact and threw his arms Clay when he got free, hugging the boy. The three orphans all shared this nice hug for a minute before the birthday boy actually picked up what was going on and released Clay who in turn removed his ticket and the two boys and one kitten went to enter the ticket in for the trial being held.

Hopefully Phoenix would recognize Apollo...

* * *

**A/N: Forgive the short chapter and delayed update. I was just busy with my other stories, you see. You can look at my other stories if you would like for now until I update this one next which hopefully would not take long. Isn't Clay a good friend? It seems that Apollo had a brief flashback, though, when recalling his bracelet. I am proud of all of this story so far! **

**:) I hope you review, guys, and I will try and get the next update on here faster. Thank you all!**

**-Chloemcg**


	10. Apollo's birthday surprise part three

**Disclaimer: I would never own the characters of Phoenix Wright since they belong to Capcom, I may have some original characters as the chapters go on but any characters that don't belong to me are made from Capcom and their respective owners.**

**Origins of Justice.**

* * *

The Court gallery was bustling with life and many of the people sitting there simply questioned about their views on the inevitable outcome of the trial starting soon. Apollo, Clay and Ash sat in the second front row of seats holding the many curious civilians even though they tried to keep themselves from sliding off due to the fact that the others present were very skirmish in their seats.

Apollo held Ash on his lap while Clay had a bored expression etched upon his face, his eyes lidded with complete and utter boredom. The three orphans sat in a row and Apollo seemed to be the only one mostly excited since he was basically bouncing in his seat with this childish gleam shining within his dark brown orbs, a very eager smirk stuck on his lips and his grip on Ash was so tight that the kitten gave mews of protest despite that he looked like his eyes were going to pop from their sockets.

Clay could have sworn that if Apollo wasn't holding on to Ash then the young ten year old would be slamming his excitedly clenched fists down upon his own lap.

Apollo was grinning excitedly and his eyes were very fiery and all rearing to go even though Clay began to clear his throat to snap his friend out of his deep fanatic seething.

"...Err, Apollo, I think you're crushing Ash." Clay pointed out but he was smiling all the same.

This made Apollo look down at the feline in question. He really was holding Ash incredibly tightly and Ash wasn't really enjoying the experience as the kitten tried to claw out of the tight grip of the young boy's embrace. Apollo smiled sheepishly when he realized that his friend's words held the total truth and passed the young blind and death kitten to Clay to avoid cracking his small rib cage. He flashed the kitten a sympathetic look while stroking his head in his palm "Sorry, Ash."

The kitten purred a forgiving purr under Apollo's stroking palm and in Clay's steady cradling against his chest and his tail flicked in contentment.

Apollo smiled compassionately before his deep brown eyes lit up like a fire igniting into flames and turned his focus on to the ground down below. Phoenix Wright had stood on one side of the room behind a desk with a far off look in his eyes and he looked ghostly pale as if he was really afraid of something the person, Miles Edgeworth, on the other side also had a certain look in his eyes. The witness (or something belonging to the witness) sat on the stand that sent chills down Apollo's spine even if it was just a tiny two-way radio.

However, Apollo could sense that somehow there was a certain tenseness in his hero. The boy had read a lot on both Edgeworth and Phoenix's rivalry but he deduced that the duo didn't seem the least bit spiteful towards each other despite their conflicting roles in the court but they did have this...brotherly relationship even though it was one-sided in the open.

Apollo gave a low murmur of deep thought. Why was there a strange little radio on the witness stand?!

Apollo clenched his fists tightly and narrowed his eyes towards the scene unfolding below. He felt this stirring sensation to stand up and to point a finger towards the tiny little thing and demand to know what it was. However, his better nature told him to stay put and he just sat there with a contorted glare in his eye. He was focused and ready to take down mental notes as he scanned every single solitary detail. Including the fact that there was a somewhat familiar woman sitting next to Phoenix and that the judge and Edgeworth too looked ghostly white.

The silence was painful.

Finally the judge snapped out of it and slammed his gavel down on the high podium he sat at even though his hands were shaking "Court will now reconvene. I assume both sides are ready?"

Phoenix spoke although his voice sounded strained and hoarse, as if he had some piping hot tea poured down his throat and he was suffering from the after burns "Y-Yes, you're honor."

The judge turned to Edgeworth who looked as equally sweaty as his opponent did "Y-Yes, you're honor."

The judge nodded his head and began to question why Edgeworth had turned so ghostly white. However the prosecutor had brushed it off and told him that it was nothing. Apollo felt a sudden pain in his wrist as he looked down at his bracelet and rubbed his head over it after receiving the sharp squeeze. His eyes were wider than dinner plates as he stared down at it worriedly. What could that mean?

Clay noticed Apollo's pain and looked at the birthday boy worriedly "Apollo, are you okay?" he asked in a soft voice. Apollo looked up and nodded his head although his blank face was far from convincing "I-I'm fine, Clay..."

The two boys stayed quiet and continued to watch the trials.

"Now then, Mr. Edgeworth," The judge began "If you could please tell the court the results of the handwriting analysis on Mrs. Pax's suicide note..."

Edgeworth froze. He seemed very reluctant to do this for some reason and everyone in the gallery sensed it. He decided to do it anyway, however "Y...Yes, your honor. Unfortunately...we have discovered that this suicide note-" He swallowed as he brought out a crumpled up piece of paper and showed it towards both the judge and everyone in the courtroom "...Is a forgery."

Phoenix's face turned from white to a sickly green colour "What!?"

Apollo had no idea what was happening but he couldn't believe that there was some forged evidence involved. He had heard plenty about people in court becoming untrustworthy due to the fact that forged evidence is being used on many separate occasions. Apollo feared that if that was kept up at this rate then there would be no trust between the court and the common folk. He was now on the edge of his seat, shaking in anticipation of what else was going to happen in this trial.

The Judge gaffed "What do you mean Mr. Edgeworth!?" He demanded, clearly overcome with shock upon hearing this discovery.

A new found seething anger was distinguishable in the prosecutions voice "This...This note was not written by Ms. Impax herself!" He growled "It is a fake!"

Everyone in the crowd broke into a sudden uproar. Fake evidence!? Why would this be used!? How could nobody tell it was a fake!? Nobody saw this coming! Apollo swallowed. He could sense a huge tension hung over the air like a wet blanket. He frowned heavily and shakily sighed as he tried to comprehend all of this information.

Apollo and Clay both exchanged a shocked look before turning back to look at the trial.

After a bit of talking that seemed to consist mostly on nervous stumbling and stammering, Edgeworth finally decided to call what would appear to be the first witness. He looked utterly serious whilst requesting it and he spoke in a very loud voice that was enough to shatter everyone out of their silence that was swift and hard enough of a blow to rival a simple rock being tossed at the worlds' most fragile window.

The judge decided to ask before this person was called "Well, what sort of witness is this person, Mr. Edgeworth?"

Edgeworth folded his arms across his chest, a chilled expression on his face "This witness is one who is perfectly fit to answer once and for all the question of," He swallowed and pointed towards the defense (Phoenix in other words) " 'Who was it who hired Shelly de Killer to commit murder?' "

Phoenix seemed very shocked as he queried with a stammer "Thats impossible! Who in the...?!" He struggled heavily to continue that sentence "No such person exists who can answer that question with such certainty!"

Judge concurred "Y-Yes! Mr. Edgeworth! Who is this witness?!"

Edgeworth now seemed sort of reluctant to spit out the name of his witness. His face was even paler if that was even possible! Sweat was very easy to see trickling down his head even from the gallery. Apollo could sense a heavy atmosphere drop down on the Judge, Phoenix, his co council, Edgeworth and himself as he tried to say that forsaken name.

"It is...Its...Um..." He stuttered.

The judge was beginning to grow impatient from the tense atmosphere "Yes!? Go on! Who is it!?"

Edgeworth slammed a hand down on his desk to try and get rid of that suspense hanging over their heads but it had done little to do so. This slippery weight in the air was far too heavy for comprehension and clearly nothing but that name could dispel it. It seemed that Edgeworth knew this too well so he decided to finally force it out and get it out of the open.

"The man himself...Mr. Shelly de Killer."

That name held the most harrowing of echoes in history. Everyone in the gallery was silenced as that name was like the drop of a penny; hard hitting as it fell to the floor and left a huge agonizing silence. The people sitting in the gallery sat there with eyes wide and staring off into the distance, unable to do anything else as they tried to let this sink in. They knew all too well who that name belonged to, as it implied, a bone-chilling assassin.

Finally the judge nodded with a seemingly oblivious tone of voice "Oh Mr. de Killer..." Then it smacked him in the head and if had he been drinking any form of concoction of liquid at the time, he would have done it in a way that made his mouth a spilling water sprinkler and his eyes were like bowling balls "W-W-Waaaaiiit! SHELLY DE KILLER!?"

Finally it seemed that the news had sunk into everyone's heads and they began to uproar a storm a midst each other. Apollo and Clay were both especially shocked beyond words to be hearing this. They had heard all about Shelly de Killer as he was rumored to be a living enigma who slipped into someones life so he could perform his task before slipping out silently when it was all over. It was truly terrifying to hear that name whispered in fear in the wind and this fact was no truer than how Apollo and Clay knew it.

Was prosecutor Edgeworth mad!?

Get Shelly de Killer on stand!? This was certainly horrifying indeed but Apollo and Clay held each other to soothe each other's fears for what that killer would do to anyone in the courtroom if they dared speak out of turn. Despite this, however, Apollo was very intrigued as well as terrified. He could even feel Ash tense up under both of their grips.

What will happen next? How will this trial end up?

Something strange was going on here, that much was obvious.

Apollo could sense that this very first trial he was going to witness would be more than thrilling but it may just teach him a thing or two.

* * *

**A/N: Hi, guys. Sorry this took a bit long. I was just thinking about which trial to get this on but I couldn't think of any other than this one. I was also focusing on my newer Phoenix Wright story named "Rise of the fallen" which involves what I think will happen in everyone's (Apollo included) futures and what will happen when Kristoph and the Phantom make a return. Along with a certain criminal involved with this case.**

**Oh and Mrs. Blunt also makes an appearance in "Rise of the fallen" so you might want to check that out. **

**Thanks for showing interest in my AA fanfics since I feel so honored to have you all like them. Please check out my other stories soon.**

**-Chloemcg**


	11. Apollo's birthday surprise part four

**Disclaimer: I would never own the characters of Phoenix Wright since they belong to Capcom, I may have some original characters as the chapters go on but any characters that don't belong to me are made from Capcom and their respective owners.**

**Origins of Justice.**

* * *

The Court gallery was now put into a huge frenzy to which Clay and Apollo had to stick close together to keep from getting separated by the moving crowd in front and towering them, acting as a strong makeshift blockade for the three orphans.

They could do nothing but stare up scarily as they trembled with their knees tucked against their chests that had each caved in to mark their fright right along with their faces. Ash squirming from the vacuum sucking out the air around the trio didn't really help much either as the frightening air had yet to settle in.

An ASSASSIN was being brought into the courtroom!?

Was Prosecutor Edgeworth out of his usually flamboyant mind!?

Apollo and Clay exchanged looks but Clay smiled assuringly at his friend as if to tell him that "everything will be fine" but the former still looked very much uncertain. He hated being seated here right now but he gave a deep look of determination as a sudden adrenaline rushed straight through his veins and he jumped right to his feet so he could try and calm everyone down.

"Woah woah!" Apollo exclaimed to the panicky adults, raising his palms up and down to try and calm them even though they wouldn't listen to him "Calm down everyone, everything will be fine!" He didn't know it but Ash was still bundled in his arms and he gave a mewl of protest as if to join in. Clay decided to help his best friend and done the same thing as Apollo by trying to calm the panicky crowd before them.

'_Its no use,' _Apollo thought when he had got a free moment, a finger scratching his chin thoughtfully '_I need to do something that would effectively stop them from running rampant but what...?' _

Suddenly, Apollo had struck with an idea. He rushed towards Clay and just barely lifted him off his feet so he could settle him on his shoulders, that being easier said than done as the pilot hat-sporting boy was a little shorter than him but he was a bit heavy since they were the same age and he wasn't able to lift certain things since he wasn't the strongest of boy's due to his skinny frame.

However he somehow succeeded the deed, surprising both himself and Clay as Clay sat on Apollo's shoulders. Clay caught on to his friend's plan and grinned eagerly with eyes flashing with determination. Apollo took some deep breaths in and out to ready himself and his lungs since hopefully they should really come in handy.

"QUIET!"

Luckily everyone seemed to have calmed down even though the panics seemed to have drowned out his and Clay's shout to the Judge, defense and Prosacutor down below by the judge. Everyone seemed to have been filled with disbelief because of that sudden witness being called to the stand, were they finally going to see the Assasins face?

Nobody wanted to believe this, this would be suicide.

Apollo and Clay both fell down on the seats and Ash rolled out of Apollo's arms on impact due to both the boys wobbling human tower being completely unstable but luckily the blind, death kitten seemed to have sustained no damage whatsoever. The two young boys were quick to pick up their fallen furry friend and to settle along with the crowd as the rest of the trial had taken place.

For ages Phoenix battled desperately to defend his client, a man named Matt Engarde, but in all honesty the mad man seemed more guiltier by the second. Apollo was confused mostly and Clay seemed both intrigued and utterly perplexed by what the situation was moulding into for the court sides down below them.

The young boys said nothing but the look they gave each other said the exact same thing: "What's going on here"?.

But when the supposed assassin was brought out towards the stand, it was quickly discovered that there was a reason for Phoenix's desperation. It became clear the moment when the spiky-haired defense attorney clarified that the person on the other end of the two-way radio was Shelly De Killer.

Edgeworth and the Judge were both asking about the truth of this man's identity as the famous killer and he went for a moment whenever a certain little voice had answered the question and whenever they did, Phoenix's complexion had turned ghostly pale and he had his lips quivering worriedly as his brows twitch in anxiety.

His hands were even trembling as he was clearly very, very scared of what this killer was doing to him.

"...I'm...soooo...hungry." The voice on the other line groaned tiredly, sounding so tired and listless.

Apollo knew who that was!

Phoenix yelped in sheer panic "Maya!" And his cohort also yelled out the name of the partner of Mr. Wright, startling the two boys especially as they knew who Maya Fey was yet both the Judge and Miles Edgeworth seemed rather clueless about both the situation and who she was, it seemed.

Apollo quickly pieced together what must have been happening. That Shelly de killer guy must have somehow taken Maya hostage and was forcing poor Phoenix against his will to win this case even if the poor guy was really siding with Edgeworth's suggestion.

That must have been the reasons behind Phoenix's desperate attempts to save the despicable man, it was only logical.

He gasped down at his idol in shock and his eyes widened. His thorns of hair withered a little bit to drop slightly at the tips, only partly falling over to match the sympathetic look on his face. Apollo couldn't blame Phoenix Wright at all for this, it must have been so hard.

Clay seemed to have been oblivious to Apollo's sudden realisation and he asked worriedly "Wh-What is it, Apollo? Is something wrong?"

Apollo didn't respond but he only looked down towards the scene below with that sad look on his face and Ash seemed too quiet as he also looked down with his small, unseeing eyes. Nobody said a single word as they watched what was happening to Phoenix and Edgeworth but they were also keen to learn more about these events. Nobody knew what to expect now from anybody.

As the trial dragged on nobody could follow what was what anymore. It was just ages before any real progress was made and Maya's life was threatened a few times. Yet, somehow, everything was carefully unravelling and becoming increasingly clearer and clearer.

The trial lasted a long, long time until Matt was finally dragged out on to the stand. Phoenix was almost forced to give up when suddenly a lady carrying a whip appeared before the court and somehow managed to barely turn things right around and Matt had turned out to have hired an assassin, planned to blackmail the assassin and he got an acquittal that meant that he would be sentenced to a most painful death by a very betrayed De killer.

Luckily Maya seemed to have been released but Phoenix seemed to have been very, very, very worried about her well being. But then again, the two were the very best of friends so of course he cared about her and wanted nothing more than to protect her.

When the three orphans had been released from the courtroom and had went into the main hallway; Apollo basically threw his skinny arms around Clay in relief, expressing all the tenseness he felt throughout the majority of that trial and he let out some quiet whimpers. Clay smirked, returning the hug and he asked gently "Apollo, were you really _that _nervous?"

Apollo nodded his head, burying his chest in the black material of his best friend's onesie. The two just stayed together in the halls of the court house and said nothing, the only sounds they could hear being Ash mewing hungrily and the gossiping of the crowd exiting the courtroom. They ignored the trio but they needed a little bit of quiet to regain their bearings, nothing could tear them away.

The orphans didn't mind this, it was nice. The environment may have been busy but the atmosphere was actually comforting and soothing for the birthday boy whom had just turned ten years old today.

Justice chuckled as Clay smirked mischievously whilst locking Apollo in an arm lock and tussling the latter's unique hair playfully. Apollo laughed while he tried to escape the brotherly gesture, but then again he felt it was nice. He did admittedly see Clay Terran as his brother more and more even though he wouldn't dare tell anyone else that, it was rather embarrassing and sappy after all.

Clay's fist managed to shakily rub against Apollo's scalp, messing up some of the brown tufts of flat hair covering his head but the two boys finally ceased with their messing when they noticed that Ash was moodily staring up at them as if he knew where they were yet he gave a somewhat grumpy look towards them, his tiny tail flicking in irritation.

"...Mew." Ash went, his tiny nose twitching. Clearly the snow white tabby kitten had inherited a thing or two from his mother, Alice, and knew exactly how to put up with two adorable boys playing together but knew how to break up a corny moment or two. Seriously, Ash had a habit of doing this even when he was just a newborn kit.

Apollo pulled away from Clay's embrace, grinning like mad, and bent down before scooping up Ash once more and settling him into a nice position where he was comfortable. The kitten snuggled nicely in the boy's hold and closed his cloudy eyes to sleep and the two boys finally went to go back to the orphanage but where stopped when Apollo heard a stern voice sound from behind him, startling him and Clay slightly as they quickly turned on their feet.

The orphans looked up to see a man wearing a white cravat around his neck and a dark pink/red outfit that best fitted his broad frame, he even had long strokes of silver-brown hair that was rather sharp looking and he kind of looked like a classic guy who never really smiled. Yet he was very identifiable to Apollo.

The young boy panicked a little at first but calmed down and remained civil "M-M-Mister Edgeworth!" He stammered nervously.

Edgeworth shook his head with a smile, of course the boy would try and be polite if he was a really big fan. He would recognise the description anywhere if he cared to recall the countless times of when his friend, Phoenix Wright, would tell him of when he encountered a strange young orphan boy who had a strange pair of spikes sticking out from the top of his head...that and his voice was apparently really loud.

"Oh please...no need for formalities, young man." Edgeworth got down to his knee to meet the boy on eye contact yet Apollo just stood there with his eyes wide and his breathing steady. Clearly he was excited beyond belief and was trying not to squeal like a teenage girl but was having a really hard time containing the urge to scream.

Edgeworth eyed the young boy awkwardly before he smiled gently "Now. Whilst you and your little friend may have thought that your calming of the crowd had gone unnoticed, I actually heard you somehow."

Apollo gulped nervously. Edgeworth heard him, did he? Even though he treated Phoenix like a god, he had just as much respect for his rival since the both of them really kicked behinds when they combined their efforts and worked together as a team. It was sort of scary because Edgeworth had been known to freeze people in place and break them down with that icy glare of his.

He stared up at the man with a straight face, standing up as tall as he could. He couldn't deny that he was sort of nervous about this but he couldn't deny that he was really excited either, meeting Edgeworth was sort of an honour for him.

"Yet, I must admit that with that voice of yours; you could shout a mean "objection" to anyone who stands in your way in court." Edgeworth quirked a curious brow "You do plan on becoming a defense attorney, do you not?"

Apollo gave an army's salute and stomped his foot proudly "I-er-yessir!" He was acting as if he was in the presence of an army general and Edgeworth was honestly flattered. Now he could see why Phoenix thought of the lad so highly!

The prosecutor smirked. He found the lad admirable for his loyalty but reliance was something he really needed to work on. He also needed to find a way to tone down that voice of his, really.

"In that case, I shall look forward to seeing you in court." Edgeworth smiled as he stood up and began to walk off towards the double doors but before he did, he stopped. He stood still for a few moments before glancing towards the two orphaned boys over his shoulder.

He felt a small amount of curiosity leak into his voice as he turned around slowly to face them sideways. The older man tugged a bit at his cravat with a stone face yet he was now frowning somewhat mysteriously with his brows lowered in a stern way "...And by the way, Apollo Justice, when I heard you shout out like that I could have sworn that I also saw a look in Wright's eyes." He nodded his head thoughtfully "A look of recognition."

It was then he left with a heavy amount of mysterious of cryptically-laden air hung over them like a wet blanket left out to dry. He left through the huge double doors back towards the courtroom and left the two boys and their kitten awestruck.

What did prosecutor Edgeworth mean by that?

...with that, Apollo's eyes rolled into the back of his head and he fell backwards even though he was fortunate enough for Clay to have caught him.

Clay was a little shocked that Apollo had fainted like this so suddenly but he was happy that his best friend had a great birthday, even though by the end of it he had both cried, met Prosecutor Edgeworth and now add fainting like a girl to the list.

He made Apollo's unconscious form lean heavily against him and stuffed Ash into his other arm so he could carry them both back to the orphanage. He could see some more adventures in their future together and knew that their friendship would never fade.

"It's okay, Apollo. We'll be fine." The spiky-haired young boy wearing the pilot's hat murmured to his best friend. He was excited to see what else will be tossed in their direction but he had to ask himself as he struggled out the door while carrying two of his teammates all the way home:

But what else will life throw their way?

* * *

**A/N: Sorry if I sort of hurried the trial, guys, I knew you would know what happened and that it would be needless to write out the ENTIRE trial but besides there's some more things to do like their teenage years and the very first time Apollo and Clay visit the Cosmos space centre. **

**Apollo meets Edgeworth, it seems. At least our favourite prosecutor was nice to him! Let's see what else happens, shall we? **

**Please review, guys, if you have any suggestions then please say so. I don't mind since this is what I THINK happened during Apollo's childhood and there's no say weather this is what actually happened or not. **

**Oh and I will do a Christmas chapter, just so you know. There is a reason I'm doing that and I'll give you a hint to that reason:**

**It has something to do with a comment in "A monstrous Turnabout".**

**Thanks guys. And this does tie into "Rise of the fallen" since Matt Engarde is the villain there and we may even see more links to that.**

**-Chloemcg**


	12. Apollo near the Edge

**Disclaimer: I would never own the characters of Phoenix Wright since they belong to Capcom, I may have some original characters as the chapters go on but any characters that don't belong to me are made from Capcom and their respective owners.**

**Origins of Justice.**

* * *

The three orphans once again walked down the sidewalk whilst ignoring on-lookers, a fire of defiance burning bright within their hearts. Nothing could extinguish what they had just done since their horse-strong hearts were full of righteous joy of what they had accomplished.

Apollo was especially happy. He had met Phoenix Wright's rival, Miles Edgeworth, and it may have sounded unbelievable but both Apollo and Edgeworth had crossed paths once before in the past. The young boy couldn't have been any happier with how his tenth birthday turned out since it just made him feel like he could take on the world.

He was brought out of his train of deep thought whence Clay spoke a question that had so clearly been plaguing his mind. The pilot hat-wearing boy shrugged his shoulders uncertainly as he viewed his best friend's profile.

"So, Pollo, how did Edgeworth know you? You seemed like you met each other before..."

Apollo nodded with a beaming smirk on his face. He could not contain such a joyful look since all the happiness he felt had originated from how brilliant his day had been and nothing could have shown this more blatantly than his deep brown pools known as eyes. He gently cradled a certain white little fur ball in his arms as he eyed Clay back, the two boys walking alongside one another in broad daylight.

He shrugged his shoulders somewhat lazily as if he was really carefree about the conversation.

"We have met, actually. It was just before I met you. I just happened to be walking alone one night when I was attacked by a bunch of gangsters, they threatened me." He closed his eyes tightly and shuddered at the memory, not finding those visions of the past pleasant to think about "They threatened to kill Alice if I didn't do as they asked and pulled me into the shadows so they could take my blood or something. I received this from a knife they used..." He trailed off as he pulled up a sleeve to reveal a small white line tracing from the crook to his arm to his wrist.

It was quite long all things considered.

Clay watched in worry as Apollo continued to tell the story.

"Anyways, they sliced my arm and asked that I go and shoot someone. I didn't know what was going on!"

* * *

**Three years earlier...**

Apollo recalled these feelings all too well as he recalled them exactly and specifically well to make sure that no other feelings could mask the ones he felt then and there. He hung his head low in shame, he couldn't believe he had been ambushed and blackmailed by this cult he had accidentally stumbled upon.

A look of relief filled his eyes when he recounted a certain prosecutor's coming to the rescue. Even his voice was flooded with pure relief at even recalling these events.

"Suddenly I heard some barking and looked to see that someone had come to my rescue. It was Mr Edgeworth, of course, who had a little dog with him at the time" he placed a thoughtful hand to his chin when another random thought whacked his brain hard "-what was its name again? Bullet, spitfire, Missile?-" he shook his head "a-anyway, Mr Edgeworth chased the bad guys away by threatening them of calling the police on child abuse."

Apollo was back to cheery. These visions of those long nights ago filled his mind and took over most of his senses and controlled his mind out of the pure desire of wanting to revisit this memory that always found a way to tunnel into his childish psyche. He could remember everything about that night:

the dark of night, the damp alleyways, the rats scampering by him in pathetic little bounces, the foul blend of smells of sweat and alcohol.

He could especially remember Edgeworth approaching him even though his face was concealed in shadows and darkness. His voice was very distinctive though, so he couldn't really deny the fact that it was actually the gentleman prosecutor who had rescued him from doing something so awful especially in his childhood no less. Actually, when Edgeworth approached him, he was very surprised to hear a parental lecturing tone behind his calm, suave voice.

Apollo was happy to have met the guy even though Edgeworth seemed familiar with him already. He could still recall what he had been told thanks to his really good memory.

"_Young man, what were you doing out here at this time of night?"_

_"I-I was getting some food for my cat Alice, M-M-Mister Edgeworth, I didn't mean to-"_

_"No. Its fine, little one. I have been where you are so there is no need to apologise." _

Apollo sighed. It wasn't really hard to recall their conversation after he had rescued him, truthfully. However he was a bit confused when his voice went hoarse when he mentioned knowing where Apollo had been and stuff. He had a better understanding of what happened now since Edgeworth's trial of the D-L9 incident had only recently passed about a month or so ago.

The horn-haired boy closed his eyes and took in all the surroundings of that night and allowed his entire mind to be pulled into that flashback as it filled his head with its pitch black shades and rancid odour lingering much longer than he would have liked thanks to the fact that a bunch of crooks had been hiding there only moments ago until Edgeworth had intervened.

The polite prosecutor's voice filled his head once more.

_"Judging by the attire, am I to assume that you live at the Rock Hard orphanage?"_

_"...Yes."_

_"So am I correct in assuming that your parents have long gone?" _

_"...Yes."_

Apollo would be lying if he had said that he wasn't feeling seriously downhearted from there. He wanted to know his birth family, he wanted to know what had happened to those who had brought him into the world long ago but he couldn't do it. He didn't even know where to begin since he could barely recall what his mother looked like let alone his father.

Just thinking about his lonely omega status in the orphanage hierarchy brought tears to his saucer-like eyes and his thorns of hair withered down in front of his spacey forehead to signal that he felt saddened by this little reminder of his parentless life.

However Edgeworth knelt down to the ground and slipped a gentle finger beneath the boy's chin and made it so that their eyes met exactly. They stared at each other for a moment or two before the big man wearing the ruffly cravat asked him something as gently as possible.

"_Now then, boy, what is your name?" _

_"A-Apollo Justice, Mister Edgeworth sir."_

The surprise behind Edgeworth's voice was subtle but it was still there as a faint light of recognition burned inside those placid ivory-pale blue pools of his. Apollo couldn't even hope to explain it but it was the strangest thing, maybe Mr Wright had informed Edgeworth of their meeting in the park a few years ago. But then again, Apollo sort of doubted that he would be much to remember.

However it seemed that the kind yet stern prosecutor begged to differ.

"_Wait a second, you didn't happen to run into Phoenix Wright whilst he was on a leisurely stroll in the park one day did you?"_

Apollo nodded, surprised. Did Mr Wright REALLY recall him from that long ago?! And was Phoenix really one to tell Edgeworth about his adventures, even the smallest ones? But then again if he were to vanish off the face of the earth than supposedly he would owe his rival a good explanation...

It seemed that Phoenix Wright really did care. But what was so special about him? He couldn't have been much of an impact since people in the orphanage managed to pretend he never existed so why did such a legendary man like Mr Wright take such a strange liking in the form of a father-son, mentor-student bond with him?!

Either way, Edgeworth smirked happily upon seeing the boy in his wake as he folded his arms across his chest. It seemed that the prosecution really knew a lot about him from what Phoenix had told him...

"_Ah, I should have known. I was told about that unique inquisitive expression and very descriptive horns of yours, Wright seemed to have taken quite the interest in you my child." _

Apollo could only blush whilst scratching the back of his neck sheepishly. He was fully aware that his thorns of upwards points had began to falter at the tips as if to show he was becoming sweaty with embarrassment. He also grinned a timid grin that seemed too cute to forget with a trademark cute little face and such. He also subconsciously shuffled his foot against the hard ground he stood on in reaction to Alice rubbing the side of her body against his leg affectionately.

In response he scooped up the full-grown cat wearing the bandanna and held her tight whilst Edgeworth tugged a bit on the lead that Missile the Shiba Inu was attached to, making the little dog yelp a bit in surprise, but he quickly recovered as he wearily approached Apollo with his curled tail tucked in between his legs somehow.

Apollo knelt down, shuffling Alice into one of his arms so he could spare his other one, and deftly stroked Missle who gave snorts and noises of contentment. The little ginger police dog was surprisingly gentle with Apollo but the instant he saw Alice the two began to have a pet version of a Mexican stand off.

Rolling their eyes in unison over their pets melodramatic behaviour, Edgeworth and Apollo began to make their way back to the orphanage. They walked alongside each other in silence and thankfully everything was quiet and peaceful. It was like a deserted town in this part of the neighbourhood with tumble weeds blowing by and everything!

The only thing guiding the adult and child was the moon shining shreds of silver and ivory light down in front of them as it hung up high in the black-indigo skies that had been dotted with stars.

"_So let me see if I have this right, young Justice," _Edgeworth began curiously "_you would like to become a defense attorney when you grow up, right?" _

Apollo nodded. He loved chatting about his hopes and dreams, even if it was with his hero's arch rival. Much like on Phoenix he had been doing his research on the prosecution side too since when he ever came across any of the ones Phoenix faced in the past and wanted to know sort of what made them tick.

He could hear his own heart screaming in joy but he gripped on to his sore arm.

"_Yup. I want to defend those innocent of false accusations, a defense attorney finds the truth too don't they?" _

Edgeworth chuckled lightly. This child reminded him of one of his loyal assistants, Kay Faraday, when she was a child. Those two had a lot in common in actuality and the posh prosecutor had a feeling that if they ever met than they would most definitely get along quite well. He was also a lot like Phoenix when he thought hard enough about it.

He was only out here because he had to walk Missile but he was happy about meeting the boy he heard so much about at least.

He nodded to reply to the question but then brought up another question that had been bugging him and he pointed his gaze to the tabby cat Alice who now fell asleep in Apollo's warm arms.

"_But why were you searching for food? Surely the orphanage would supply the food needed to feed that nice kitty." _

Apollo shook his head sadly_ "Nobody knows I have her, honestly. She's my only friend since I'm treated like dirt in the orphanage and I usually devote a lot of my time to her even if she is a stray part-time." _

Edgeworth was now lost in deep thought. That boy loved the cat with all he was worth and the orphanage wouldn't be allowing him to keep her if she were to be caught with young Apollo. Yet he couldn't condone rule breaking either since that would just be bad role modelling...But than again, he was familiar with the head of the orphanage; Ms. Blunts, and she was quite nasty.

Maybe he could help Alice hide with Apollo for the night and shake things up a bit.

"_Hmmm, while I don't do much rule breaking unless its necessary I don't think its fair to leave you poor chap all alone. I'll help you hide Alice but only if you promise to try and make more friends, deal?" _

_"...Deal."_ Whilst Apollo wasn't an expert on friendship, he was more than willing to hide Alice with Edgeworth's house and going through the front door was no longer an option. They would try and figure out how to slip back into the bedroom undetected at a later date but at least they had arrived to an agreement.

* * *

Clay was stunned. He never expected to hear such a story from his friend, it was sort of cool-sounding honestly. It was like hearing a story of his own hero coming back from space after his rocket strangely broke down whilst in the stratosphere.

Not that it will happen... **(A/N: Wink, wink, hint, hint).**

His eyes were wider than bowling balls and his jaw was slack. Yet he and Apollo continued walking despite the fact that he was gawking the rest of the way back. Nobody knew what to say or what to do as they just walked in this empty awkward silence, it was sort of strange.

Apollo raised a bushy brow at his silent friend and he smiled teasingly "Never expected that for an explanation, did ya?"

Clay merely shook his head, still in awe of what he had just heard. Wow Apollo must have been shining like gold the moment he met Phoenix Wright and now he met Prosecutor Edgeworth who had saved him from doing something horribly wrong! He put a hand to his head to force his voice box to work and he adjusted his pilots cap and squished his plaster-stuck nose together because of a slight itch.

"No, no I didn't." Clay sighed and smiled "I think what Prosecutor Edgie said was true, though."

Apollo rolled his eyes at the dreadfully cheesy nickname that had just unknowingly been bestowed upon him despite his noble calibre. He decided to carry on listening, however, as he nodded his head to urge his best friend to continue whilst he lovingly cradled a certain blind little kitten in his hold.

Clay took this as his chance to make his point "I think you really will make a great Lawyer, Polly parrot!"

The other boy in question then had an idea light up like a sparkly symphony of fireworks all neatly aligned in the pitch black skies above until they evaporate into smoke.

However Apollo wasn't going to light the fuse to these new bunch of fireworks next. Not yet, anyway. No he had to wait for something first since he had a great idea of how to do this and hopefully Clay will feel just like he did earlier today. He simply pushed a fingertip to his exposed forehead with his bright childish eyes glowing with this sudden pride of an idea.

They soon found themselves at the gates of the Orphanage while Apollo had buried poor Ash under his onesie whilst there was an ocean of children playing outside in front of them in the courtyard.

Now Apollo and Clay were faced with their toughest dilemma yet:

...How were they going to get back into the room undetected?

* * *

**A/N: Sorry this took awhile to update, I have just been busy with my new school and settling in and I'm not feeling well right now either so please be patient with me. **

**I noticed that an awesome writer/reviewer: Elchikaah-Haly, brought up a good point that I forgot to mention in the last chapter from Edgeworth and Apollo's relationship. Btw, don't feel so down on yourself. I haven't seen your reviews but I wouldn't go as far as to say its awful either so I think your cool.**

**I thought I should give him some of the spotlight too.**

**Anyways I had a thought: Maybe Athena did meet Clay in the space centre. After all Clay was probably familiar with Metis (her being in that picture of the crew together) and was around when she was still alive so maybe Clay tried to meet both Athena and Simon but never got the chance. This is just a theory.**

**What do you think?**

**Please review.**

**-Chloemcg**


	13. Winters flames

**Disclaimer: I would never own the characters of Phoenix Wright since they belong to Capcom, I may have some original characters as the chapters go on but any characters that don't belong to me are made from Capcom and their respective owners.**

**Origins of Justice.**

* * *

Apollo and Clay skipped merrily down the path with a slightly older version of Ash bounding alongside them with a certain joy in his bounces and in his unseeing eyes. The threesome had become closer than brothers and couldn't hope to deny the utter joy they felt at this very moment.

Apollo had a rucksack looped over his shoulder while Clay wore a normal school bag that had black leather straps on either side to keep it on his back. They both had just finished another day at school and had actually witnessed snow blow from the outdoors in such an awesome flurry that made both of the boy's not only realise that winter was coming but Christmas as well.

They were sort of excited to have some playtime outside now.

The two boys had just went to the court trial not too long ago, maybe two weeks ago, and ever since then neither of them felt a single cloud darken their road ahead.

Apollo was just as chirpy and loud as ever while Clay was still pretty sneaky and knew things most of everyone in the orphanage didn't even know about how their environments work to their advantages. Ash may have been a blind and death kit but he actually had a very keen sense of smell and gave Apollo and Clay confidence in their darkest moments.

Both boy's became greatly valuable to themselves and never allowed themselves to have attention drawn to themselves encase that made them look suspicious in anyway. A bit of fun every once and awhile never hurt anyone, did it?

Clay twirled on his feet as he ran with his hands held up high into the air in order to catch drifting snowflakes and, being the somewhat wet blanket of the duo, Apollo just watched with a teasing smirk while he folded his arms proudly across his chest and he could feel a certain ball of white fur rub its body affectionately against his black-clothed leg whilst he still wore that annoyingly dull onesie that all orphans were supposed to wear.

"Clay we really should get going." Apollo laughed jokingly as he grabbed his best friend by the wrist and basically dragged him all the way back to the orphanage.

The trek was long and difficult especially whence a dampness began to seep through their feet wear and dampen their socks inside and making them really cold. The three orphans laughed and laughed all the way home as they travelled so happily, impervious to any emotional wounds that may have been served in the past.

Neither boys were going to allow anyone to feel pain while they were around.

Eventually they reached the orphanage but when they did, their entire world crumbled into microscopic pieces at what they saw before them.

Apollo and Clay were completely paralysed with fear at what they saw, oblivious to the fire engines blaring in their ears as their widened eyes were glued on to the run-down building they called "home". Even Ash seemed petrified at what he was seeing even though he was blind and couldn't see a thing but the unbearable heat should be enough to warn the kitten not to take another step.

The orphanage was on fire!

Apollo just stood there, unable to do anything as a mix of ashes and snow fell from the skies above and smoke filled both his olfactory receptors and his lungs as he could no longer breathe as he tried to allow this horrific reality to sink in but he couldn't handle it. Tears stung in his eyes as he tried not to look at the building in front of them.

Thank goodness a lot of the orphanage kids had been at school with Apollo and Clay but that didn't change a thing in their eyes. They had no way of knowing if there were any survivors except for asking the firemen but they were too busy trying to tame these wild flames that rose up high into the afternoon skies to make the ash of those flames meld with the snow.

Quickly, Apollo gave Clay's hand a reassuring squeeze but that didn't do a thing for poor Clay as he was completely entranced by those hypnotically demonic flames of death consuming the entire Rock hard orphanage.

They couldn't feel a single sensation anymore, not a single feeling of joy or any positive emotions. All they felt was grief and remorse as they stared deeply at the fire.

The wannabe-lawyer swallowed his fear when he finally regained some of his momentum and he rushed forwards to see what he could do but Clay simply reacted by pulling him back so he wouldn't do anything foolish. It was just like the night when Alice died, actually. Except this was bad on a higher scale, nobody could even dare top this catastrophe.

Luckily a fireman approached the two lads and their pet and knelt down to meet them at eye level. The two young boys stared directly into the man's sympathetic eyes that was filled with sadness and loss of faith as he told them both in a rough yet strained voice "...I'm so sorry, kids, but none of the others made it out. Except for the boss of the orphanage."

Apollo and Clay's breaths became stilled. They could no longer breathe on their own, they were too horrified about what their ears latched on to. All of the other children...died!? How on earth did such a beautiful winter day turn into one of such catastrophe!? How could this happen to them when they already lost so much already in their short young lives...?

The two petrified lads choked on a swallow and they backed away slowly, shaking their heads in blatant denial, as tears welled up in their saddened eyes.

Apollo had been raised here from infancy, his mother abandoned him on the doorstep of this very place! It felt like a part of him had just died inside all because this place was now burning into rubble on the ground below.

The comb-haired boy gulped as tears of remorse trickled down his cheeks, leaving wet little trails down his face, and he burrowed his chin into his chest to avert eye contact to the fireman who had just told both him and Clay this startling news. Ash too seemed to have been confused by the whole ordeal, unsurprisingly, since he hadn't been here for too long except for since he was born a near month ago.

"...N-No, you're wrong." Apollo gulped again, shaking in fear "...They are alive, they h-have to be!"

However it was then that a gruff clear of the throat caught his and Clay's attention and they found a great deal of the other children behind them yet, while they seemed just as shocked as both the boys did, they also held a hint of anger towards Apollo for some reason. A whimpered sob escaped from Apollo's throat and he squeaked sadly at the other children, his double spiked fringe drooping over his eyes sadly.

Not being able to cope with this anymore, Apollo ran away with Clay and Ash following close behind.

Nobody knew what to do anymore.

Fate seemed to have hated them for some reason.

Why else would these constant tragedies hit them like a train each and every time?

Whatever the situation, it now appeared that their omega-state status from orphans had now been upgraded to: Homeless orphans.

Luckily Apollo and Clay had the street smarts to compete on the streets of Los Angeles and that would hopefully get them somewhere but the trio were in for a very bumpy start when they reached somewhere they could stay for awhile. They no longer had any spare clothes or such and while Clay still had his mother's bigger hat made for him when he got older, that was all he had managed to salvage other than the packed lunch leftovers he had brought to school earlier.

Apollo still had his mother's bracelet but that was it. He also had some food items in his schoolbag too but that was nothing that could be of use to him in anyway. Not while he was in this state anyway.

How will Apollo, Clay and Ash cope with being street rats?

* * *

**A/N: And yet poor Apollo and Clay go through more tragedy, how sad is that? Now they lose their home as well as some innocent friends. **

**Their lives had just turned from relatively peaceful to traumatising and scarring. How else could Apollo Justice and Clay Terran fix their lives and put the pieces of the puzzle back together and pick themselves off the ground?**

**Find out in the next chapter.**

**-Chloemcg**


	14. Help from the Cosmos

**Disclaimer: I would never own the characters of Phoenix Wright since they belong to Capcom, I may have some original characters as the chapters go on but any characters that don't belong to me are made from Capcom and their respective owners.**

**Origins of Justice.**

* * *

Weak footsteps echoed through the alleyways as a figure crept through the alleyways, knowingly memorising the correct routes to take so he could reach his friends.

A white-furred creature proudly trotted through the darkness, carrying something in his mouth as he wandered around through unseeing eyes that had been destined never to see a thing as he had been born in such a state.

Ash mewed as he sniffed two familiar people out and ran towards a large cardboard box where two black clad young boys awaited him with positive smiles on their faces as they stood up from their cramped little handmade home to greet their fuzzy friend.

The fully grown cat may have lacked in a major sense but he still recognised the smell and aura of his owners and that was something he loved completely about them both. He scampered towards which he sensed was Apollo and meekly rubbed his head against the young boy's leg in affection.

Apollo, now eleven years old, petted the white fur ball lovingly with a smirk. It had been a full year since himself and Clay had been left homeless and while life had been pretty rough for them both, they still managed to push on through those bad days and keep their spirits bright.

"Hey, Ash! Good to see you, boy." Apollo greeted cheerfully, despite the fact that he was pretty dirty and his hair was rather messy and out of place despite the thorns of his hair still being intact. He rubbed his palm along the cat's head and he felt happiness swell within his heart when the blind white tabby cat purred upon feeling the boy's tentative reaction to seeing him.

Ash gave a slight shake of his head, signalling that he didn't want to be petted anymore, and he meowed cautiously to Clay and slowly approached him with a slight wave of caution showing in those blinded eyes of his. His tail lightly wagged as he sifted passed the useless cardboard boxes and other rubbish that had been accumulated in the alleyway the three were forced to stay in.

He mewed again, calling out to Clay, and recognising him by the other boy's scent.

In reply to the calls being made by the cat, the young figure of Clay stiffly moved in the darkness provided by the cardboard box he curled up sadly in and made a slow approach to the little animal they had kept.

Ash slowly craned his furry neck down and placed a freshly baked baguette down upon a makeshift tray of cardboard that also acted as a doormat to the fairly big box Apollo and Clay chose to make their home in.

Smiling upon seeing the fresh bread, Clay exited from the box and scooped up Ash in one arm and picked up the bread in the hand of the other arm. He and Apollo sat down, their backs to the cool brick wall of the alleyway as they broke the bread and shared it amongst theirselves.

The trio ate their daily bread in small little bites and they savoured each bite they took to the stolen piece of bread that Ash had been forced to steal to help in feeding Apollo and Clay.

It wasn't always Ash's job in getting scraps to eat but Apollo and Clay also done their fair share in stealing to keep themselves alive. They didn't want to steal right out of other people's mouthes but they didn't really have a choice unless they wanted to keep themselves alive for another day, despite their living conditions being less than perfect.

They both still went to school and were both ridiculed for what happened to the orphanage and were even blamed for it. While Apollo and Clay defended themselves from the accusations and bullying by learning the art of self-defense, Ash didn't know exactly how to shield himself from the offending foot that would occasionally ram straight into his rib cage or would stand on him on purpose.

It was thanks to Apollo and Clay that nobody went too far and hurt poor Ash to the point of him being fatally injured.

A blind and deaf cat could only take so much hardships.

The three orphans ate their meal and chatted about their dreams, something which they usually done to keep their hopes up in this dark and desolate hour, and they were not relentless about it.

"So Apollo," Clay began with a chuckle "did you hear about that Soloman Starbuck guy!? He arrived home earlier this week!" The young boy's breaking voice grew ever more excited at the mention of his hero's accomplishment and he rocked back and forth on his behind whilst he stuffed some of the crust of his meal into his mouth eagerly.

Apollo nodded with a smile. He too was happy that Clay's hero had just won through a hardship of going into space -something which Clay had always dreamed of doing- and had done the impossible.

He couldn't help but find his friend's ambitions interesting, they were actually very intriguing goals to have and he couldn't help but share a small part of those goals. Apollo thought about what it would be like to see the great beyond, what man always considered a mystery of scientific proportions: Space.

It would always find a way to make Apollo's mind twist for its usual hunger for knowledge. He wanted to know everything so he could accomplish his own goal for becoming a hero of the law; like his own hero, Phoenix Wright.

He yearned to be in a courtroom, he wished to point his finger towards the prosecution and point out a contradiction much like that figure in blue with the strange spiky hair.

Apollo chuckled "Yeah, I heard! It seemed impossible but still..." He looked down in deep thought, thinking about his next words carefully. He couldn't really think about much other than the fact that he was seriously worried for Ash and Clay's safety while they stayed in this horrible alleyway.

The boy stared down into a puddle and he felt his eyes go misty. This reflection of what had happened to him reminded him of how his life had been since he seven years of age, a poor little kid who was treated like the runt of the pack. He could feel tears blur his vision as they welled up inside his childish, dull brown eyes.

He bit his bottom lip as he tried to prevent tears from betraying his feelings. He even stroked his bracelet to soothe himself and provide some sort of comfort to his aching heart.

The thorny-haired boy screwed his face up and pictured his mother's blurred, beautiful face that was wrapped up in a bright blue shawl. She wore a pretty little smile on her thin, precious lips. Her face seemed saddened and tear streaked, not that he could blame her.

Apollo sighed shakily and his shoulders tensed up. He couldn't help but feel his eyes well up with such large tears as his mother's vague face filled his mind, he couldn't really remember her all that well but it still hurt to see her face so pained and saddened as she glanced down at him with such tearful eyes that matched his own in every way.

He could even hear his own babyish whines and whimpers in the background.

Apollo sadly lowered his bread but then a rather old voice sounded in his ears and latched his attention, making his head whirl in the direction of the voice.

"...Hello there?"

The two boys and their cat turned their heads in the direction of said voice and discovered an older man wearing a full navy general uniform and he was riding a Segway and he carried a red umbrella over his shoulder to shield himself from the rain that had suddenly started to downpour upon the town.

His old gaze was carefully fixated upon Apollo and Clay as well as Ash.

The three stared at the man for a few moments until the man asked in an unusual mixture of parental gentleness and authoritative commandeering "What are you two strapping young lads doing in such squalor?"

Apollo and Clay didn't say a word to reply to that. They simply gave the saddest looks possible as if they were desperate for some form of compassion -it wasn't even on purpose. The orphans couldn't help but feel more lonesome than ever now an actual adult was apparently worried about their well-being.

After a moment of silence, the man asked again "Are you two all alone?"

Apollo and Clay looked at each other and then down to Ash. It seemed that the man wasn't really counting Ash in this for whatever reason. It was a little bit rude but as long as the cat was well-protected than that shouldn't really matter right about now, should it?

Clay held on to the cat tightly as if he would float off if he wasn't held so tightly. He kept his pilot cap on tightly, making sure it was well balanced atop his black, abundantly spiky hair and he sniffed with a plastered nose.

He furrowed his brows at the man while Apollo thinned his brows. Neither of them knew what to think of this situation right now, it wasn't exactly a great one to end up in but hey, it was better than the usual empty day.

Awkwardly, the man cleared his throat gruffly to introduce himself "My name is Director Cosmos, the director of the Cosmos space centre: home to future great astronauts who shall become household names in the history books."

Clay and Apollo's eyes brightened up in recognition. Was this _the _Director Cosmos, the same one who was the owner of the home of Soloman Starbuck!? Man how many more famous people were these two boys going to meet, it was basically insane!

Director Cosmos cleared his throat again while stroking his grand ivory moustache, twisting it in his fingers, and he asked suddenly "How would you two like to come with me to the great Space centre and become apprentices?"

now this question was sudden.

Were they just offered a home!? ...actually, they couldn't tell if it was a job opportunity or not but still it was still a huge deal! They were probably getting a new home without more life on the streets and they were now very happy.

However Apollo still had a question that bothered him as he eyed Ash on occasion "But what about our cat?"

The old man said nothing. It seemed that he didn't want that cat to come with them but Apollo and Clay wouldn't go anywhere without Ash. He was their little buddy after all, it was either all three of them together or not at all! They wouldn't have it any other way.

They sent a google-eyed stare to the old man, their eyes huge and glassy with tears as they both allowed their bottom lips to quiver in order to make their faces as irresistibly cute as possible. The old man did try and ignore those sweet little faces but, no matter how much grit he put into his own face to say "no", he just couldn't do it.

"Oh alright," Director Cosmos sighed in defeat "you may bring along the feline fur ball."

Apollo and Clay grinned in triumph. They were bringing Ash along for the ride!

The director gave the two boys a gesture that said "follow me" and Apollo and Clay both happily cantered by the man's side and they walked back to the space centre together with their lives on the street over before it got too serious.

No longer did they have to steal their food, now they could begin living again.

* * *

**A/N: Yay! Apollo and Clay are now going to be living at the Cosmos Space centre, what else will happen? **

**That was nice of Director Cosmos, wasn't it? He was actually really kind and compassionate but I still tried to add that ego of his and make this as sweet and funny as possible. **

**Let's see what else will transpire with our three little heroes.**

**I am also not very well, at the moment so please forgive me. I am right now in hospital with a horrible eye and some facial palsy-thing. I just can't control the right side of my face anymore...not right now, anyways.**

**Hopefully I'll get better soon.**

**Please review.**


	15. Solomon's new role

**Disclaimer: I would never own the characters of Phoenix Wright since they belong to Capcom, I may have some original characters as the chapters go on but any characters that don't belong to me are made from Capcom and their respective owners.**

**Origins of Justice.**

* * *

"S-Sir, you can't be serious..." Solomon Starbuck stuttered irritably, yanking at his own star-shaped ponytail in a mix of disbelief and shock of what he had just been informed "you just _took _two little kids off the street!?"

Director Cosmos nodded as if it were no menial task and people did it a lot nowadays. He was so calm about this that it was actually rather creepy. He had just arrived back with the two orphaned boys while he was out on his little walk -more like ride because of the scooter- and he had just informed a adsolent Soloman about his discovery and about how he had brought them back.

Of course the astronaut was caught in a mix of outright horror and disbelief at what the stubborn old man had done. He couldn't believe that the man had practically kidnapped those poor little boys!

Solomon, getting really annoyed with the Director's calm attitude, messaged his temple in heavy aggravation as he put two gloved fingers to his head and he felt his thick yet bushy brow twitch beneath his own touch.

"Director, why did you do that?" He asked as cooly as he could.

Director Cosmos just said simply, a glazed look in his old eyes as he stared right at his young understudy "Because of the spark in their eyes, Starbuck, the spark."

The astronaut was confused. Spark? What spark? All eyes looked the same and he knew that they were the window to the soul and could reflect emotions but he didn't really make an account of eyes "sparkling" before...except with maybe his past girlfriends who didn't happen to be cheating on him, but hey.

His face was apparently filled with cluelessness so the good Director Cosmos decided to clarify what he was talking about as he steered his scooter to one side in order to enable him to have his back turned stiffly against the younger man in a melodramatic way.

Solomon rolled his eyes irritably and crossed his arms in a tight fold at the sappy atmosphere this made. Oh, great, here comes a really corny speech...

Director Cosmos' voice was low and chilled as he spoke in a tone only one would use after rehearsing it in the mirror countless times, kind of like an "epic movie trailer voice" so to speak and he locked his hands behind his back. The air this talk made was so thick that you could slice it with a mere butter knife.

"For eons now, the human race has been sucked dry of any historic beings and all signs of future potential and the burning fire of determination had thought to have been long extinguished as it had been swept away by the winds of time."

Cosmos had brought on a really edgey atmosphere as he spoke like this. His voice was slow and it sounded like a whisper that would be carried forever by the winds of time for a whole eternity and it even sounded oddly comforting in a way. Even though he was a bit of a drama queen sometimes and his ego was more inflated then a bungee run, he would have done well as being a movie maker.

Solomon couldn't help but find this speech somewhat alluring. It was admittedly impressive.

"But when I looked into the eyes of those two boys, they had a very admirable trait shining in their eyes. They have clearly fought through the battles of life yet they show little to no scarring, the two boys share a destiny yet have two separate dreams."

By this time, Cosmos had turned on his scooter to face Solomon once more but this time his ageing eyes were swimming with a fiery passion and his moustached lips tugged into an expression he so rarely used in his life filled with seriousness and such: a smile.

Even Solomon was surprised. Did old Yuri Cosmos, biggest stick in the mud in all of the world, just smile!? This had to have been a dream since even when Solomon tried to make the old guy crack even the subtlest of smirks by telling him all the funniest jokes he could think of, he wouldn't even so much as blink before he went away and mumbled grumpily.

The man had accepted that Cosmos had no smile long ago but now...his mind had been blown completely!

However Solomon was still reluctant on keeping these two little boys, considering that they were orphans and this would essentially be kidnapping them and possibly ending up with them being arrested. He didn't want to be locked up behind bars, especially not after such a stress of coming back home from the rough time in space not too long ago.

He looked into the eyes of Director Cosmos and was shocked into silence when such a ridiculous suggestion reached his ears, just another outlandish request to add to the other ones that fired from the old man's mouth.

"And, Starbuck; I want you to take care of them."

If he had been drinking water then he would have spat it out in a millisecond. Did he just hear what he think he just heard, was he just requested to look after two little boys who had been kidnapped from the streets earlier!? Was Director Cosmos serious!?

His throat seized up and he found himself unable to speak while he spluttered and coughed uncontrollably, trying his best to manage some form of protest against the idea his employer had just concocted inside that mystifying brain of his. However, he couldn't mutter even a single word of objection and Director Cosmos didn't seem to have been taking "no" as an answer anyway.

The old man turned on his scooter and proceeded to drive away, leaving the poor Solomon Starbuck to choke on the responsibility shoved on to him, and he muttered something about "making the adoption legal" or something like that.

Solomon sighed with a heavy head and a look filled with mainly disbelief and shock but otherwise there were no words to express how shocked his face was. It was the look of a child being caught with a hand in the cookie jar mixed with the look someone would get if you had just been told that you were about to grow an extra limb.

Finally accepting the fact that he was now a guardian of two boys and a fuzz ball, Starbuck slowly turned around and went to approach the three orphans with a look of complete cluelessness plastered upon his face and he gave a very awkward grin.

Apollo and Clay stared up at the man with very puzzled expressions. They currently sat down on a pair of beanie cushions while shooting their new "father" skeptical looks that was filled with uncertainty for their situation here. Neither of them knew how to react to the sudden change here but they shouldn't be complaining here, it's not everyday somebody pulls you from the streets and suddenly gives you a home.

"Erm..." Solomon cleared his throat gruffly "Hi, guys, I'm Solomon Starbuck and I'll be looking after you two..." He paused awkwardly when Apollo and Clay held a very chilled glare on their cat as if they wanted him to be included too "...I mean three."

That quick fix seemed to have got Apollo and Clay back on better terms with Starbuck at least but this whole situation was still very strange and uncommon.

They all shared a three-way silence for a minute or so until Solomon had a bright idea to get the kids warming up to the reality of living here as he got down on one knee to meet them on eye level and his smile seemed genuine now instead of forced and awkward.

"How 'bout I show you guys around the place?" He asked, a simple tone lacing his every word.

Apollo and Clay mutedly looked at each other and then back down at Ash who didn't seem to be objecting so they both nodded up to the astronaut with uncertain faces. Solomon smiled wider as he now had a good way to get the two talking to him for now, at least.

They all climbed to their feet and began to walk through the Cosmos space centre and begin the grand tour of their new home. However, as Solomon led the boys and their cat through the corridors leading in through the launch bag, he couldn't help but reflect on his current status.

He never expected to be a dad so early in his fledgeling career and he could completely understand why the kids were not very talkative. This was a sudden change and a change this big would take some time to get used to, he had to help them through that since he had a feeling that there were scars -unlike what Cosmos had insisted- but they were just buried beneath an innocent mask of high spirits and energy.

The question was, though: how could he get these two boys to trust him?

* * *

**A/N: Sorry if this chapter was a bit short, I was a bit keen. **

**I didn't exactly know what else to do for this chapter since I can't think of anything much right now and plus I wanted to save the big tour for the next chapter. **

**Poor Starbuck, now he's been tossed into a "daddy" role and he now has to be the adoptive father of two young boys. I think this would explain a lot actually since Apollo trusts Solomon and knows him really well. **

**I think it would fit in well if Solomon was the one who raised both Apollo and Clay, plus I can just see some cute moments in there. **

**Please review.**

**-Chloemcg**


	16. Solomon's trust

**Disclaimer: I would never own the characters of Phoenix Wright since they belong to Capcom, I may have some original characters as the chapters go on but any characters that don't belong to me are made from Capcom and their respective owners.**

**Origins of Justice.**

* * *

Apollo and Clay filed behind Starbuck as the man led them through the seemingly endless corridors of the Cosmos Space centre and tried to give them both a grand tour of the place and make it as amazing as possible for the two boys and their blind cat.

The group of four wandered down the hallways, peeking through each and every door they had passed.

Honestly Solomon was very anxious about being so suddenly forced into the shoes of fatherhood and he already had enough problems to worry about. He had went into space and developed a frightening phobia of space and was now being dropped into a stressful role with looking after a pair of orphaned lads who had been kidnapped from the streets. He still couldn't believe that Director Cosmos had done that!

Sol never really thought about becoming a dad before. Well, he never even considered marriage although he had sort of pondered settling down whenever he had become a proper astronaut and was well into his mid thirties. He just didn't think that his whole life would change within the snap of a finger, he also knew that raising a family was a great big responsibility.

He mentally shook his head. No, he should focus now. He was busy with giving both Apollo and Clay...and Ash their tour around the Cosmos space centre.

They were going to need a good idea where everything was if they were going to make it their new home after all.

As the group casually sauntered down the futuristic hallways, they were constantly greeted by doors which were stuck on the walls of each side of the labyrinth of corridors that linked with the reception area.

Stopping at one door in particular, Starbuck softly pushed open the door and peered into the room it had hidden behind it. Apollo and Clay shyly hid behind their new parental figure and also peered into the room to get a look at the occupants whom stood around a work bench, even though their faces were somewhat fuzzy for their groggy overwhelmed minds.

Both Apollo and Clay could most definitely tell that the duo were female, however.

"A-And over there's the robotics lab."

Solomon pointed into the room, motioning towards a woman wearing a lab coat over a bright yellow kimono with a blue jacket draped over her shoulders.

She had her bright brown hair tied into a bun and she had somewhat dull emotionless eyes that juxtaposed against her honey coloured skin. Her empty and impassive pools stared right at the two boys. Her fringe was curled around her forehead and it somehow made both Polly and Clay think of some kind of chocolate.

Desprately hiding behind the woman, abandoning her picture that she was working on just before the visitors came in, was a young girl hidden behind her back fearfully. She wore a yellow T-shirt that was sort of frilly, she wore big headphones that were sort of heavy, she looked terrified of everything too. Her ginger hair was a lot like the woman's in some manner which nobody could find the words to describe.

Her sapphire eyes were wide with terror and she clutched on tight to the hem of her mother's kimono and she made a small squeaky sound that actually could qualify as a whimper.

The woman was working on a robot which was broken and she observed carefully as the machine that was surrounding the broken heap of metal began to carefully pick at the crashed and dented pile of disassembled body parts. She didn't seem to notice her daughter hiding behind her.

Apollo and Clay watched in amazement whilst the machine reassembled the parts of the robot and made the thing complete, the finished product looking like a somewhat endearing little robot.

The boy's couldn't help but smile a little upon seeing that.

Oblivious to the two boys wonder, Solomon waved at the woman and the little girl whom practically lived in the Space centre "Hey, Dr Cykes. Hey, Athena!"

In response to the friendly greeting, the woman named Dr Metis Cykes turned on her feet and smiled upon seeing Starbuck with the two lads. She wore a gentle motherly grin and her cloudy dull eyes softened upon seeing both Apollo and Clay and she gently patted Athena on the shoulder to give her some assurance.

Smiling in an awkward way, Metis waved with a free hand "Hello there, Starbuck."

Solomon grinned cheerfully, trying to disguise his anxiety with ignorant good-natured chivalry.

"What brings you here?" She asked, knitting her thick bushy brows together.

While he greeted the two girls, Starbuck suddenly felt an ounce of confidence fill him, it made him think about fatherhood to these two boys. He didn't think about raising a family so soon in his fledgeling career and he knew he would have to ask Metis about raising children soon, having little to no knowledge himself as the job was just forced on him.

He hoped with everything he had that being a daddy wouldn't be too bad and besides he kind of always dreamed of having a son or two...or maybe even a student to teach in the ways of galactic travelling. He could just picture it -Solomon Starbuck, the greatest father/astronaut ever.

He was snapped out of his train of thought when he saw Metis looking at him as if expecting an answer to her original query.

"O-oh! I was just showing these kids around, Director Cosmos found them in the street."

Solomon turned his attention to the boy's and kitten and saw that their expressions had turned rather somber as they looked down at the floor and studied the dull blue colouration that the floors had shown as well as their reflections that they could see through the well-polished floor tiles.

Both of them seemed pretty sad now and Solomon panicked momentarily.

Oh dear, he should have not said that in front of them! Solomon quickly thought about how to remedy this mistake as he kept his gaze on the two young lads who stood right next to him. He should have been a bit more sensitive to their situation instead of just blabbing about something so horrible so casually.

That was stupid! He had to get them out of there!

"Ah! U-uh! C'mon, guys, we gotta check out the cool equipment next!" He exclaimed, hurriedly shoving both Apollo and Clay out of the lab door way and down the corridor which had clearly been recently cleaned judging by the fact that the floors were waxed clean and so slippery that one would easily fall to the ground without a guide.

When Sol had left the corridor in a hurry, Metis and Athena looked at each other momentarily, their faces full of confusion, before they decided to just shrug it off and continue what they were doing. Athena went back to drawing a picture whilst Metis simply continued to work on the robots, trying to heal them after they had gone through some major crashing in the launch bay.

Mother and daughter just decided to mind their own business and not pry into somebody else's affairs.

Meanwhile, Solomon had led the boy's elsewhere to try and clear their minds of the depressing reminder of their past life that they had led before Cosmos had basically kidnapped them.

Apollo and Clay spared a sad yet confused sideways glance to each other as they were both pushed. They knew that by running in the halls, they had to be breaking a few rules but they decided not to say anything since they were still trying to take this all in. They were suddenly taken into a strange new place and stuff and now they felt very alienated by everything that had been transpiring thus far.

They were so busy thinking that the rest of the tour was just a blur.

Solomon couldn't blame either Apollo nor Clay for feeling down in the dumps after that. He had just accidently reminded them of the probable horrid life they led before this, after all.

Solomon started thinking of ways to cheer the boy's (and their blind feline) up and he started to try and think about what young lads were into nowadays. His face twisted up in thoughtfulness as he thought hard about it, pondering deeply on what he could do for them.

He stopped when they reached the boarding lounge 1.

Starbuck allowed the young trio under his guidance to soak in the view around them whilst he slowly looked up and noticed the litter of cool machines littering the place. There was an anti-gravity chamber which was used for astronaut training purposes, there were a small quantity of balls which were shaped like planets and there were even tiny mouse-sized machines which roamed around the place...actually they looked quite similar to some little hallway robots from a sci-fi film.

Then something clicked inside Solomon's mind as it gave birth to an idea of grand per portions and outcomes which should hopefully bode well with bonding with the boy's.

"C'mon! Let's try something fun, eh?"

Solomon remembered when he was a boy, he used to like causing mischief for his dad. He used to sneak in and play with the anti-gravity chamber whilst nobody was looking, as a matter of fact he still snuck turns with the chamber and would use the anti-gravity to soar as if he were a bird flying through the cloudless clear skies.

What better medicine for two frightened boys then a bit of fun?

Apollo and Clay looked at each other, confused. What was Starbuck going to do? Why was he giddily grinning much like a child would on Christmas morning?

Before either of them could speak a word, Sol had raced over towards the anti-gravity chamber whilst dragging both Apollo and Clay with him. Ash was bundled in Clay's arms as he mewed in surprised with his blind eyes wide and bulging with surprise and shock.

When the group of four were inside the chamber, Solomon reached over and flicked a switch with a very mischievous smirk flicking on his lips. Moments after the switch was activated everyone soon found themselves floating up in midair with partially confused expressions on their faces as they completely had lost all idea of what was going on here.

Solomon saw the boy's little lost expressions and decided to lend them a helping hand.

He had his back against a corner and he pushed his feet off against one of those corners and soared towards the both of them. Sol wrapped his arms around both Apollo and Clay, enveloping them in a tight embrace, and he actually felt them give squeals of delight and surprise as they tried to escape the adult's embrace.

Apollo and Clay, completely forgetting their sadness, burst into simultaneous bouts of laughter.

"Hahahahaha! Let go! P-Please!" Apollo begged as Solomon started to tickle them with an evil smirk widening on his lips.

Clay wriggled and squirmed to try and get away as he knew that Polly had already broke down laughing. Figures, he always was vunerable to tickling. The young boy exclaimed through a smirk, gasping suddenly as he pointed to Solomon "Oh no, Apollo! The big bad space pirate is free from his prison!"

Apollo finally freed himself from Solomon's tickling torture and knew exactly what his friend was talking about as he gasped melodramatically whilst he also pointed at the astronaut in an Objection point "Ah! You're right, Clay!" An evil smile settled on Polly's lips "We better get him back where he belongs!"

Solomon hovered in the air with confusion written all over his face. What was that about space pirates? He was confused about it for several moments before his eyes lit up in realisation. This was a game of make-believe and he knew what was going on whenever those pieces connected into his mind. A smile equally evil to Apollo's plastered against his lips and he narrowed his eyes daringly.

Putting on a deep fake and exaggerated pirate voice, Solomon ignited the true 'Space pirate' hidden inside him "Arrrgh! Not in your life, laddies! You ain't got the guts to take down the biggest baddie in the starry night galaxy!"

Apollo and Clay chuckled quietly to each other. This Solomon Starbuck dude wasn't so bad after all! He was actually a pretty cool guy! So, whilst they were still hovering in mid air, they both got into determined heroic stances and smiled with true determination sparking to life inside each of their boisterous eyes.

They both gave out battle cries as they pushed off the edge of the chamber, launching themselves forwards as they darted like a bullet towards Starbuck and they collided like astroids slamming against a windshield of a rocket ship. The three humans broke out into spontaneous laughter as they continued their game and play-fought whilst they giggled at the silliness of it all.

As the man, boy's and cat played in the anti-gravity chamber; Soloman started to realise that being a father was actually a pretty cool job.

He may have been miffed that Director Cosmos had forced him into this position but the role started to slowly suit him like a glove. He couldn't help but grow to like these two boys and he knew that he was going to give them a pretty cool life. These two orphans deserved a great life, he was going to give them that life.

He swore it on the stars.

* * *

**A/N: Awww, I like daddy Starbuck. **

**Sorry I didn't update for such a long time, I haven't been feeling too good. I'm still not but I thought that I kept you waiting for this new chapter long enough, it's not fair. **

**But anyway, I shall hopefully update this a lot sooner then this time around. Let's see what happens next then, shall we? What will Apollo and Clay and Ash do in the next chapter? **

**Oh, please review and make sure to look at my other stories. **

**Thanks.**

**-Chloemcg**


	17. Learn my lesson

**Disclaimer: I would never own the characters of Phoenix Wright since they belong to Capcom, I may have some original characters as the chapters go on but any characters that don't belong to me are made from Capcom and their respective owners.**

**This is my take on Apollo's life as he grows up, I hope you like it and it meets up to canon standards.**

**Origins of Justice.**

* * *

Apollo and Clay arrived at the Space centre with their school bags slung over their shoulders and somewhat exhausted expressions etched on their faces as they ambled through the front doors that slid open automatically upon feeling the pressure of both boy's weight on the doormat.

It was obvious at a glance that all the duo wanted to do was just lie down and die just because of how exhausted they were.

About a month had passed since the two boys were taken in by the kindly folks in the Cosmos Space centre and they had settled in quite well with the famous Solomon Starbuck being their surrogate father. Actually he was quite a good father figure; he would make sure the boys were safe and he would even take time out of his busy schedule just to play with them, even though they hadn't stayed that long.

It seemed that while Clay and Apollo had only just gotten used to their new surroundings, Ash was still adjusting as the little white tabby came waddling into the room with his tail weaving through the air.

The cat, not being able to see, would continuously bump into things and even fall over without much warning when the floors would become slippery and such. The poor little kit would even have a rough time getting used to his surroundings in a sensory sense as he was also, as it turned out, partially deaf.

It was originally thought that Ash was completely hard of hearing but when he was taken to the vets, it was evident he could hear a bit.

But there was another development, a more recent one.

Apollo was limping with his right leg held up and tightly wrapped up in a tight layer of bandages. He would give an uncomfortable groan as he hobbled through the front doors with a crutch on his left side to help him move around whilst his leg injury healed. He had obtained said injury at school just earlier, actually, whilst he was running in the hall at school.

Poor Polly's face twisted with pain with each limp he took.

The two boys smiled upon seeing their young kitty whilst Clay knelt down and proceeded to scratch the tiny cat behind the ears.

Ash purred in contentment as Clay petted him and then the cat wandered over towards the other boy.

"Hello, Ash! We missed you!" Apollo chuckled, watching as the the young blind cat went up and rubbed his back against his good leg. He couldn't help but smile brightly upon seeing his disabled white tabby friend and admire the bright blue collar that he seemed to have wore proudly around his neck.

The cat mewled as he stopped rubbing his hackles against the young boy's leg and looked up at him, muted confusion shimmering in his unseeing eyes. The kitty's tail gave a slight flicker as it he were patiently awaiting an explanation as to why Apollo wasn't getting down to pet him.

"Sorry, boy, silly Apollo hurt his leg at school. We were going to go and see Solomon about it." Clay explained, sending a taunting grin over to the thorny-banged boy whom only glared back at him.

Ash mewed and sat down whilst he proceeded to lick his paw and rub it along his cheek fur to try and clean himself. The fluffy white tabby had grown up to have a slick and slender build and he now wore a blue collar which had a tingly little bell around the front. Through the months he had grown into an adolescent and though he still had some catching up to do if he wanted to meet the standards of being the normal height for a cat.

The little disabled cats personality started to shine through, too; he had become more spunky and alert to the words of his owners.

Despite being blind and partially deaf, Ash seemed to have been very capable of expressing his own emotions himself and was far more expressive then any other cat...or, that's what Clay theorised.

Apollo thought it to be stupid but he couldn't try and change his friend's perspective on it.

Polly had even started to get into all sorts of mischief with Clay, being the young boys they were. Some people even call their little escapades anecdotes or mischievous outings.

It just so happened that young Apollo Justice had hurt his leg during one of these so-called anecdotes...he tried to put his leg down and he instantly groaned upon doing so as he felt as though a million splinters cut through the bone ligaments that had joint his ankle and the base of his leg. He whined "Ughhhh, my leg hurts..."

Clay patted his friend on the shoulder to try and reassure him, smirking teasingly "Oh, come on, you big baby, let's go see if Mr. Starbuck can offer us some stuff to help with that leg."

Apollo nodded as he leaned heavily against Clay for support and the two boys hobbled out into the other room together. The duo had spent a lot of time here and they had grown to like this place and even recognise it as their home, they even befriended the other stuff members and that included Aura and Simon Blackquill, the latter had only just joined the party.

Anyways they even started to recognise Solomon Starbuck as their fatherly figure, despite him denying it so many times. He was even quite good at being the big responsible man in their lives, he was the rock that helped them stand tall.

Even Ash had taken a liking to him and Solomon vice versa.

The children and their cat travelled through the boarding lounges and eventually, after looking around for a minute or so, they found Sol sitting on a recliner which had been put into a small room that was right beside the astronaut training room. He was reading something and whatever it was, he was pretty much sucked into it whilst he lingered over each page.

Both Apollo and Clay watched with bored and blank expressions etched on their faces. They both stood in the doorway as they waited for Starbuck to notice that they were home after a long and trying day of school...

Time slipped into five minutes of silence before Solomon finally looked up from his piece of literature.

Upon seeing the two boys standing there in the doorway, Solomon fell backwards in his chair whilst he gave a sudden high-pitched yelp. Whatever he had been reading had fallen to the floor with the sound of paper crackling upon impact. Solomon landed hard on the floor, hitting his head against it, but he seemed to have been surprisingly unharmed.

Clay and Apollo just glared.

They would walk in to the most oddest if circumstances whenever they came home from a long and tiring day of school, so it was nothing that neither Polly and Clay were not used to already. But there would be the odd occasion where even the two boys would be left scratching their heads.

This wasn't one of those days.

Scrambling to his feet, Solomon Starbuck tried to make himself look as non-suspicious as possible. He was up and on his feet within five seconds yet he was sweating quite profusely, it was obvious that he was trying to look natural and not give away that he was doing something that may or may not have been totally embarrassing.

"Oh! Hi boy's, how w-was school?" He asked the two.

Apollo and Clay stared at the man for several long moments before Clay answered nonchalantly whilst he raised an eyebrow at Starbuck "It was fine thanks, what were you doing?"

"N-Nothing! Nothing at all!" Solomon stammered nervously as he glanced towards the side as if to try and hide something but unintentionally making it obvious.

Apollo felt strange whenever Solomon said that, however. He suddenly felt his eyes sting and he couldn't help but grunt with discomfort whence he felt a sudden headache painfully pulsate and throb through his skull. It was a pain he would get often and he even bit his lower lip in pain.

Raising a hand to touch his aching head, he winced under his fingertips making light contact with his suddenly-painful migraine.

Not only that but his bracelet started to squeeze his arm.

Quite painfully, one might add.

Clay noticed Apollo's sudden odd behaviour and instantly went to his aid.

"Apollo! Are you alright?"

"I...I'm fine...just have a slight headache..." The young boy with the thorny bangs moaned a little bit when the pain suddenly started to subside and he slowly reached down to massage his aching wrist and he closed his stinging eyeballs.

He felt Clay's comforting arm pat his shoulder reassuringly and he couldn't help but feel his heart lift when he knew that his friend was helping him.

Apollo ignored his little migraine and looked down at what his father figure was reading. He looked long and hard at the pages of the piece of literature that had crumpled to the ground and, upon studying the design of the pages through throbbing eyes, he gave a very blank look as he frowned heavily.

"Its a comic book..." He stated bluntly, glaring at the astronaut with a brow "you were reading a comic book? Seriously?"

The man chuckled sheepishly in reply as he scratched at the back of his head, his cheeks being painted a deep dark shade of crimson red. He stood for a very long time whilst an awkward silence had flowed like a river through the whole atmosphere and he seemed to have been desperate to change the subject. Clearly he was embarrassed to have been caught as a comic book geek, he was always terrible at keeping things like this a secret.

"Um...er..."

Solomon's eyes went wide when he noticed Apollo's leg, though.

He looked down at the young boy's leg, seeing how it had been tightly wrapped up as it hung in the air in an unnatural manner. The bone ligaments in the leg seemed to have been smashed at the joint in between the knee and the femur section of the boy's leg.

His jaw dropping, Solomon gawked at the two boys and their cat "Holy space balls Apollo, what on earth happened to you!?"

It was Apollo's turn to blush heavily as he looked down at the floor and continued to lean heavily against Clay, reluctant to answer the astronaut who had become his father figure. He was sweating so much that his spiky bangs fell over his eyes and he shook a little bit when he knew that his body heat increased a bit, especially in his cheeks.

Seeing that Apollo wasn't going to answer immediately, Clay decided to do the honours "He was going too fast in the school hallways and he slipped and then crashed into some lockers."

Apollo gave a small grunt of confirmation to say that Clay was very accurate in what he claimed but he seemed to have been very embarrassed that happened to begin with. He eventually found the courage to look up but quickly yelped in surprise when Starbuck had ran up to him and lightly punched him in the shoulder whilst he furrowed his brows at the young ex-orphaned boy to paint a stern look on his face.

His broken leg even trembled under the very little weight he had managed to put on it on occasion.

Solomon knew that boy's couldn't help but be a bit careless when it comes to themselves and he would have been lying if he said that he hadn't injured himself whilst doing a dangerous or carelessly-executed activity, yet he couldn't help but feel protective over Clay and Apollo since the two were put in his care.

"Apollo, you should know better than to be so careless! You need to be more careful." He said as he lain his hand on Apollo's shoulder.

Apollo looked down sadly. He knew he should be more careful but he just couldn't help himself sometimes, he was just put under situations where he had to rush around but he never thought about it first.

But his eyes lit up when he saw his adoptive fatherly figure stand up to his own two feet and he hoisted the young boy up and sat him down on his strong shoulder.

The young boy with the throned fringe was confused as to why he was now sitting on the famed astronaut's shoulder and he didn't have to wonder for too long as Starbuck announced whilst looking down at young Clay whom cuddled Ash "Alright. I'm going to take Polly parrot to hospital to see about that broken leg, make sure that Director Cosmos doesn't freak out while I'm gone?"

Clay smiled and gave a salute whilst he smirked up at Apollo and gave him a supportive thumbs up. His blue eyes glistened with confidence as he stood tall, he knew that his friend would be just fine.

Upon seeing that Clay was going to undoubtedly follow his orders, Sol smirked proudly and he started to walk out the door with Polly perched on his shoulder like a parrot.

Solomon wandered down the winding roads with the young Apollo still sat on his left shoulder, which was somehow strong enough to support a young boy who weighed quite little then normal children his age. The sunlight was fading as a golden splendour overtook the city, the daytime making way into a bright and thriving twilight as the sky faded from orange to deep blue within the timespan of five minutes.

Thankfully nobody seemed to notice the famed astronaut as he hid amongst the shade that had cast over the numerous buildings that made up the streets.

The pair made their way towards the hospital, the man picking up his pace due to the urgency of his young charge's injury and to avoid getting spotted by the public and being ambushed by reporters and other nosy people.

Apollo sighed heavily as he looked down at his broken leg but his mind was spinning whilst he pondered on the scolding session he had received earlier. It somehow reminded him of the day when Phoenix Wright had rescued him from being bullied relentless by the children at the orphanage and by the matriarch, Mrs. Blunt. He felt as if reality had found a way to slap him in the face for a second time and he couldn't help but dwell upon it as his head buzzed and hummed busily like a colony of agitated bees in a hive.

The young boy finally looked back up to look straight at the road and put on a determined look as he clenched his fist and placed it against his beating heart. He had to be strong now and he knew he could only do that when he absolutely needed to and when he had enough belief in himself to do it.

Neither Apollo nor Starbuck said a word but after a moment of silence, Apollo decided to ask about the awkward goings on that had transpired earlier "Um...why were you reading a children's comic book, Mr. Starbuck?"

It was then that Solomon's breath seized in his throat and he very nearly flinched when that question reached his ears. He never told anyone that he as a comic book geek and he promised himself that he never would, not if it meant losing his dignity and confidence as a man that is.

He knew he had to get off this topic quick so he just replied with a shake of the head "N-Never mind that. Let's just get that leg of yours sorted out, hmm?"

* * *

**A/N: Alright, sorry this update took so long to put up. I have redone the first chapter and now I give you this next chapter! The next chapters will be about the lives that Apollo and Clay and Ash lead in the Cosmos space centre.**

**I haven't been very well so I haven't felt very motivated to update. Please forgive me.**

**Anyways, hopefully we will see what else happens in the other chapters.**

**I even have some of the future chapters planned out. We will hopefully see some more anecdotes about Apollo's childhood. **

**I also send out a shout out to Elchikaah Haly because she makes amazing Apollo Justice stories which I adore looking at and she read this story for awhile.**

**Please review and I hope you like this story so far.**

**Btw, I named this chapter after the song by Daughtry "Learn my lesson".**

**-Chloemcg**


	18. The thundering of fear

**Disclaimer: I would never own the characters of Phoenix Wright since they belong to Capcom, I may have some original characters as the chapters go on but any characters that don't belong to me are made from Capcom and their respective owners.**

**This is my take on Apollo's life as he grows up, I hope you like it and it meets up to canon standards.**

**Origins of Justice.**

* * *

Apollo's eyes snapped open upon hearing a sudden rumbling which was followed by a sudden flash of blinding white lights that smashed through the calm and relaxing atmosphere.

He had been laying in bed and he felt like he hardly got any sleep thus far as the thunder had been a bit irksome and hard to sleep through with ease since the sounds were so loud.

He looked up at the ceiling and took a look at the digital clock that sat perched on the bedside table that divided Clay and himself; Apollo slept in one bed while Clay slept in the other. The clock displayed the time which read 3:20 PM.

A very heavy groan heaved from the boy's throat. It was three in the morning already and he wasn't getting as much sleep as he would have desired.

The young boy turned to roll on his side and he intended to go back to sleep since he knew he had some more school the next day that would probably be a bit hard on him and Clay.

School was always tricky.

Both Apollo and Clay had to deal with bullies on occasion, they have a vicious new headmaster whom had all the teachers under her thumb, Polly and Clay were mocked due to them being orphans despite being under the care of Solomon Starbuck and they went through much more stuff; yet, despite it all, neither of the boy's were going to let a foul day at school douse the fire of determination in their hearts nor their dreams.

Apollo and Clay had each other and Ash and they wouldn't have it any other way.

But, as Apollo started to drift off to sleep, he heard another crash of thunder and more lightning decided to flash right before his eyes. The want-to-be attorney felt his heart go into overdrive as he bolted up into a sitting up position and he even felt his throat clench when he gave an annoyed groan and thumped his head back against the pillow.

He knew that he probably wouldn't be able to sleep again now, the thunder and lightning was horrid at the moment and nobody would be able to sleep through such a storm. But Apollo lifted his head up whence another sound started to make itself apparent.

It had been a full few weeks since Polly had injured his leg and it turned out to have just been sprained so the damage had healed quickly with rest and some therapy using the anti-gravity chamber to strengthen his bad leg.

It was a method that worked quickly so Apollo didn't have to wait long until he was up and walking around like normal again.

Those noises sounded like a muffled gentle snuffly sound. Sobbing and whimpering, perhaps?

Nevertheless Apollo sat up once again and decided to go over and investigate the sounds for himself. He slowly tossed his legs over the side of the bed and slowly pushed himself up to his feet before he ambled over towards Clay's bed.

The bed was small yet plain and simple, even the boy's pilots cap hung on one of the edges that stuck up. The bed stood proud and the blankets were neatly draped over the matress where the beds occupant should have been visibly sandwiched between the blankets and the bed itself. His bed, of course, was no different.

Apollo loomed over the other bed and looked through squinted eyes where he noticed the faint outline of a shivering lump underneath the blue starry quilted blankets.

The occasional flash of lightning was more than enough illumination through the dark harrowing night.

He slowly reached forwards and peeled the blanket away to reveal Clay curled up into a fetal position as he shivered as if he was walking in the coldest of arctic winters imaginable. Clay's face was severely pale, he was hugging himself tight and he looked like he had just seen a ghost.

"Clay?" Apollo called out his friend's name, making the other boy almost jump out of pure surprise.

Clay let out a sharp gasp as he glanced up at Apollo, wide eyes watery and filled with tears. He quickly raised a sleeve to wipe away the small rivers of tears staining his cheeks but only to have his arm held down when the other boy halted it from moving another inch.

Apollo gently forced Clay's arm back down and decided to take a seat on the edge of the bed. He could feel his weight push the mattress downwards where he sat and he could even hear the springs in the bed squeak in a dulcet whisper. These beds didn't have many problems but the springs were slightly bothersome. The mattress was nice and warm, though, so neither boys complained.

Apollo glanced over at his friend and patted a small space a beside him, motioning for him to come over and sit beside him.

Clay blinked in confusion, completely confused as to what Polly had planned.

"Apollo? What're you-?" He started to ask before he noticed that Apollo's expression was soft and even. Apollo had wide eyes but a frown that shown that he was not sad nor happy, a neutral frown that was enough to make one feel oddly intimidated despite it being so warm and filled with possible good intention.

"Sit with me, Clay." The spiky-fringed boy ordered gently; Apollo's expression was enough to hush Clay and stop him from asking any questions before the he sluggishly sat up and moved to take a seat on the edge of the bed, right where the other boy had patted previously.

The two boys sat side-by-side alongside each other and looked into the nice wallpaper of their bedroom silently. The only sounds that broke the otherwise quiet scene were the mixed sounds of heavy raindrops and Ash's sleepy snores as the white tabby kitten curled up on the edge of Clay's bed.

Eventually, Apollo glanced over to his friend and noticed how afraid he looked. His eyes were wide and his complexion was almost as pale as the sheets of his bed. He almost resembled a zombie from the movies! Apollo knew that something was terribly wrong with his best friend and he wanted to do whatever it took to make him feel better, what kind of friend would he be if he didn't do that?

Apollo tapped Clay on the shoulder and stared into his eyes which were filled to the brim with fright. He asked softly as he tried to be delicate with Clay's feelings and not wake Ash...although, considering that the cat was partially deaf, that would be a bit difficult "Clay, why are you crying?"

Clay only answered with silence as he averted his gaze to the floor as if ashamed. Tears continued to fall in large rivulets down his paling cheeks when he had been asked this, he didn't wish for his best friend to think him a coward for being frightened of something so silly and childish. But he couldn't help but feel frightened about it either...

"N-Nothing..." He lied whilst he hoped to fool Apollo, yet he seemed to have quickly caught on to that lie as he reacted by gently rubbing at his bracelet as if trying to soothe some kind of hurt and glared firmly at him. Guilty, Clay shrunk back in response and Apollo instantly softened his glare whence he realised that scowling and getting angry wouldn't help at all.

Over the years, Apollo still hadn't had a clue about why but it seemed that whenever someone had told a fib his bracelet would react. That and his eyes and head would sting a bit in a peculiar manner.

The young boy with brown hair

Apollo sighed and calmed down. He wasn't used to keeping his Chords of steel in check although he realised that it was for the sake of his friend. He felt like it was his obligation to help his friend. He gently lain his hand on Clay's shoulder and smiled reassuringly "Clay. We're best friends, practically brothers, you can tell me anything; I won't think of you any differently."

Clay seemed reluctant at first as he stared down at his own hands, his palms had been visibly sweaty and were shaking and convulsing like mad.

He eventually drew out a deep steady inhale before he blew it back out in an attempt to calm his nerves. The young boy's posture went rigid as he curled up in a futile attempt to hide his feelings, as a last-chance attempt to avoid the topic.

Apollo made a small frowny face and tried again to get the truth out of his friend "Clay..."

Clay heaved out a heavy exhale and decided to be honest "O-Okay...I'm afraid of thunder and lightning..."

Apollo's eyes flew wide when he heard that confession.

Throughout the months he had known Clay, Apollo had known him to be fearless of everything under the sun. He was never scared of anything! This was the very first time in recent memory that he had ever seen his best friend so afraid.

Apollo then remembered something "But you were fine the night Alice was..." he couldn't finish that sentence as he looked down, suddenly saddened that he was having to recollect that sad memory of the night when his cat and the remaining pack of Ash's litter mates perished.

He felt his heart break when he recalled seeing those kittens looking so still and he hoped that their deaths were quick and painless. Each time he would recollect that night his eyes would fill with tears, although that didn't happen this time. He did reach over to scratch Ash behind the ear, however. Anyway it was stormy that night too and Clay hadn't shuddered or squealed this badly back then.

Clay frowned and pointed out "I know, but I was still quite frightened of it!"

Apollo opened his mouth to retort but closed it again when he remembered something else about that night. He wasn't with Clay when he discovered Ash still mewling in that cardboard box whilst nearly buried in the cluster of his deceased siblings.

There had been a small window of time where Clay was alone, looking for Alice. Perhaps he had been very good at hiding his fears all this time?

Another bellow of thunder confirmed this but it also did something else, something that Apollo had seen his friend go through only recently in the months they had spent as companions and best friends.

Clay started to cough and hack violently. His breathing suddenly became wheezy and the sounds of his ribs rattling was loud and clear with each cough the boy had managed to try and force out.

He bolted upright into a sitting position, straightening his posture, before he quickly reached behind him and yanked his drawers open and he started to dig through his bedside drawers. He frantically sifted through several items and made a panicked wheeze when his coughing worsened.

Apollo, starting to panic for Clay, patted his friend's back to try and ease his coughing and wheezing fits.

"Clay, take it easy!...i-it's just thunder and lightning and we're both fine. Just calm down and take deep breaths." He spoke calmly and slowly as he started to rub his back instead of patting it and although Clay was finally starting to calm down, the wet raspy sound of his breathing was still loud and quite coherent.

Even though Clay was calming down, Apollo reached into the same drawer that Clay searched through a minute ago and managed to pull an inhaler out before he took the liberty of shaking it and handing it over to its owner.

Clay, now much calmer, took the inhaler and put it in his mouth with two of his slim fingers pressing hard against the white button on the lower part of the small plastic piece of medical equipment. He took a nice deep breath in to try and ease his breathing which had quite recently became bad, feeling his lungs expand as he did so and eventually, after two rounds of deep breathing with the inhaler, he snuffled and pulled it away from his mouth.

"Ok. Are you feeling better now?" Apollo asked, resting a hand on the other boy's shoulder.

Clay sniffed and nodded feebly, lifting up his arm and dabbing at his own tear-stained cheeks with his sleeve to try and mop up the remaining tears. He was feeling a bit better now that he had given himself a chance to let it all out and now he believed that he was ready to talk about his troubles.

Clay timidly glanced over at Apollo as he spoke with a strained voice "Sorry about that. It's just that...it was stormy just like this the day m-my mum w-was taken from me..."

Apollo frowned with utmost worry present in his eyes.

He knew that Clay would still have troubles with getting over his past and it all started to make sense to him; he had clearly grown attached to his mother, the one person who had abandoned Apollo and left him all alone on the orphanage doorstep when he was a small defenceless baby. While he was, admittedly, a tad jealous with people who had their mothers with them that didn't mean that he would harbour any ill intent towards his best friend just because he lost hers in an event that was beyond his control.

"Clay...I'm so sorry that your mum died, really I am, but you have to move on," Apollo quirked a brow at his friend "do you think your mother would want you to linger on her death?"

Clay swallowed hard in reply as tears started to well up in his eyes.

Apollo noticed that he had probably upset his friend a touch more and held up a hand in an attempt to calm him "W-Woah, Dude! I'm sorry...!"

Clay didn't seem to have been feeling any better since more tears started to cascade down his cheeks and he swallowed hard as if to indicate that he had a big fat lump in his throat due to how upset he had been getting.

Apollo felt his heart ache with guilt. His twin thorns of hair drooped over his eyes as he twiddled his fingers absent-mindedly and he hunched over. He really hadn't meant to make Clay cry like this, it wasn't even as bad as this even when the two had officially became friends that night on the school grounds.

Although the want-to-be future attorney had trouble, it seemed that Ash knew how to detect the rampant emotions of his owners as he perked his head up. The white tabby cat's skinny yet slender form was outlined by the gentle moonbeams that shone through the window.

So, giving a small yawn, the cat groggily slinked over to Clay and gingerly rubbed his fluffy head against the boy's side as if to soothe him. The soft yet mellow purrs that made Ashe's throat vibrate was a nice way to signal that this was the intention.

It even proved to be somewhat effective!

Clay managed to suck up the tears as he started to scratch Ash right in between the ears on his head. A small grin managed to make its way on to the boy's lips whilst he stroked the small blind cat that nestled alongside him.

Ash gave an appreciative silky purr whilst Clay petted him.

Apollo was happy now that his friend was feeling a bit less mopey. Ash was a great source of company but he also somehow knew exactly how everyone was feeling and knew when it was his time to step in.

In the meantime, Clay shook his head in response "No. You're absolutely right. Mum wouldn't want me to be so s-scared..."

A small smirk curled on Polly's lips as he watched with some sort of glee in his eyes when he reached over and slapped Clay on the back, catching the other boy off guard. He was happy to be able to have his friend's back although he knew that he should really sort out how to say stuff without sounding like a big jerk.

He knew that it would be tough but he had faith that he could do it!

"See? You're fine!" He exclaimed happily.

Clay wiped a sleeve across his soggy wet eyeballs and gave a small chuckle "Heh. I guess you're ri-yeeeep!" he started to say but gave out a sharp yelp when lightning crashed and more thunder roared from the heavens as the rain hammered down hard outside and battered the window. Out of pure fright, jumped up yet he hardly noticed when he clung on to his best friend.

Upon realising that he was clinging on to Polly, he quickly let go and looked down to the floor with his face red with embarrassment.

Apollo sighed aloud as he started to come to the horrible realisation that neither him nor Clay were going to get any sleep tonight. It hurt him pretty deeply but he decided to just stick it out until the storm had passed, he had to do this for Clay because it was obvious that he couldn't just go back to sleep now.

Thus he started to spark a nice conversation "Hey, Clay? Didn't you say you want to be an astronaut?"

Clay looked back up to Polly and nodded in response.

Apollo continued "Well. What planet do you want to visit first?"

Clay smiled faintly as he looked over at the wall behind him, catching a small glimpse of a poster that was stuck on the plastered wallpaper. It was blue and had depicted the moon surrounded with tiny yellow stars; while it wasn't a very detailed picture of the moon it was still quite nice.

Apollo followed Clay's gaze and the latter was wearing a wistfully dreamy grin on his face, it didn't take too long before Apollo started to realise that the answer was right there although Clay answered anyways with his voice hushed.

"...The moon. I want to go on the moon, with Mister Starbuck."

Apollo's eyes grew big when he realised that Clay's dream was big. He could tell by the way his whole demeanour shifted and how his voice took on a sudden tone of mellow determination. Even his shoulders became more broad whilst his frame shimmered in the moonlight that beamed through the window.

It wasn't too hard to tell that Clay wanted to go to the moon one day. Heck, he even tried sneaking into the H.A.T space ship more then once...only to get caught by either Director Cosmos or Solomon or even both at the same time! Solomon found it amusing while the good director found it to be a bother.

Then Clay looked at Apollo with a small sincere smile "So what do you want to do when you become a lawyer, Polly parrot?"

Apollo was almost caught off guard by that question. He never thought of what he would want to do when he became an attorney, of course he wanted to save people from false accusations but he also had another reason to become an attorney at law; it was a reason that had become planted in his mind back when he was a small lonely seven-year-old kid.

A small chuckle rumbled through his vocal chords and he slowly replied "...I want to stand alongside him. I want to stand beside Phoenix Wright and to stand as his equal."

His words were tight with sincerity and his eyes almost became misty. He actually hadn't thought about this until now, it was a train of thought that was always cut off by one thing or another. He almost felt...mystified and confused by his own thoughts about his desires whence he grew as a proper lawyer.

Would he be so lucky as to be able to work alongside his idol, would he be able to solve big mysteries? He didn't know and he was almost afraid of the answer -not that he'd admit it to anybody- and he didn't know how he could properly be ready.

All he could do was try.

Apollo exhaled deeply whilst he turned to face his friend and he held his hand out for Clay to shake "Alright, buddy, we have to go and make sure our dreams become real. Let's work hard...you with me?"

The young boy with the spiky fringe smirked confidently, trying not to let his anxiousness show, as he noticed that the air surrounding them died down to match the calming storm outside.

Clay grabbed Polly's hand and nodded in response to the question asked of him with his eyes narrowed, a fiery determination shimmering in his deep blue eyes "With ya all the way!"

Ash mewled as if he were joining in, his head perking up and his blind eyes bright and attentive whilst he curled up on the laps of both the boys and nudging them each with the top of his head.

And that was the very beginning of how Apollo Justice and Clay Terran put their plans into motion. They were determined to make it so that their dreams would take off and soar like birds in the deep blue sky and, while they were fully aware that there would be obstacles to overcome, the duo (and their cat) would not falter nor would they let themselves be swayed by anything!

Although little did they realise that their peaceful life was going to come crashing down once again.

* * *

**A/N: I'm sorry this took so long to update. I just have trouble writing these days for some reason even though I'm not doing much right now.**

**Since its near Halloween I thought that I should do a fear-related chapter and this is the result, I did try my best and I still have the twists and turns of how this story goes in my head so I hope that this story will get better the more you guys read this.**

**And what's with Clay's sudden ailment with the coughing and inhaler? You'll find out more about that later.**

**Artwork would be amazing!**

**I hope you review this, guys.**

**-Chloemcg**


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